Mirai Marron
by Gabriela Romero
Summary: Everything was taken away from Marron when the demon Guerra began to target and kill off the Z Fighters, and in a desperate attempt to escape she was forced to travel to the past, in hopes of fixing what damage had been done. M. TrunksxMarron. Review!
1. Preface

Author's Note: This story is set during the Android Saga/Cell games, and I will try to stick to the canon plot as much as possible, all changes made are only for story-convenience. And also in this story Marron is capable of fighting/flying. So enjoy and let me know what you think of it! **Reviewssss** are love.  
**Visit my profile for the official artwork of** _**Mirai Marron**_**!**

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_**Preface**_

It had all happened too fast. There was the confusion and only one small piece of intel that she was aware off. The demon Guerra had come for them and he was resilient about one single fact; he was going to kill each and every one of them. That, however, seemed like an ambiguous detail to her, because all that mattered now was her reality, which with every second that passed was slowly crumbling away, into a nightmare world where everything was destroyed and everyone she knew and loved was slowly slipping away. Marron knelt next to Trunks while she helped him up back to his feet. He had cuts and scratches everywhere, but the most terrifying part was the blood that spluttered out of his mouth with each single word he instructed to her, Goten, and little Uub. "Pan—I saw her—she's on the eighteenth floor. Goten, you—you must go get her—Guerra's minions were after her."

"But what about your mom?" His best friend intercepted but was quickly silence by Trunks' instructions.

"Go! Hurry! Get her!" The blond Super Saiyan doubled over with a fit of bloody coughs that followed after his outburst and with a last, nervous glance Goten turned Super Saiyan and flew deeper in to the collapsing building. Trunks leaned on Marron once again, and the remaining warriors had to move quickly out of the way, for the lobby of what once was Capsule Corp. had finally begun to cave in. Outside the streets were burning with every car that exploded, and the few civilians that were still alive fret and panicked as they tried to get away. Marron could see Vegeta still fighting the terrifying Demon Guerra right outside the building, but after seeing Vegeta's condition she knew that the battle would soon come to an end.

"Uub you have to go downstairs, to the basements, and find my mother. We left her in her lab before the battle started; she has to still be there. Take her to safety." And with one final nod Uub also sped in to the debris of Capsule Corp. and out of sight.

The lovers remained alone together for a few precious moments, under the crumbling building, well aware that soon their time together would be up as well. Marron's leg had broken from her previous fight with Guerra's minions, and something about the stiffness and throbbing of her shoulder told her it was dislocated, but no pain was greater than the pain she felt from seeing her fiancé in such a state. Before withdrawing to the lobby of the former Capsule Corp. building, Trunks had been aiding his father fight Guerra merely yards away from the building, but he was easily defeated by Guerra, and Marron, who was also engaged in battle with two of the demon's minions, had been able to catch Trunks just as he came plummeting down the sky, unconscious. Her half-Saiyan fiancé had suffered from broken ribs, but something told her he also had serious internal bleeding, which was what prevented him from standing up straight or uttering words without bleeding.

His calloused, shaky hand cupped her cheek affectively as he whispered sweetly into her ear, "Baby, please go with Uub and my mom; I have to help my father."

The young woman shook her head and, with tears cascading down her face, she said, "Don't even—"

Trunks' beautiful blue eyes closed slightly in exhaustion as he spoke, "I want you to be safe; you have to go."

Didn't he understand that she was not about to leave him alone, that she wasn't about to let him die? Her frustration at his attitude made her snap, "No! I will not leave you alone, Trunks!" Marron leaned her aching body against a wavering pillar and she searched in her pockets for her last Senzu bean. "I only have one Senzu bean left—"

"We'll split it," Trunks said beside her, fighting back bouts of bloody coughs.

"It'd be useless for me, I'm no match for Guerra…" The blond begun saying but was quieted down by Trunks as he shook his head. She brought a quivering hand up to her lips and inserted half the bean in her mouth. It hurt to bite down, due to the sucker punches she had received from Guerra's summoned minions, but within moments she had moved her fingers towards Trunks own lips, gently pressing down so that he could swallow the remainder of the bean. Almost instantly she felt her broken leg heal itself, and only a dull shadow of the pain in her shoulder remained. Beside her, Trunks straightened up, and even though the cuts all over his handsome face weren't gone, something about his demeanor told her his internal bleeding had subsided.

The lovers stood up straight and faced each other, as if almost ready to accept that this might be their last moment together. "Marron… promise me that whatever happens you will fight your best for your life. _For your life and your life only_," Trunks stressed the last part as he squeezed her hands, and the blond young woman hastily nodded. He then took hold of her bruised face and brought his face down to level with hers, delivering her a possessive kiss. For a moment everything was bliss; they had each other, and for a second that was all that mattered, but Vegeta's loud scream of agony coming from the street brought them back to reality and the couple parted. Trunks hesitated before parting from her face and powering up, flying in the direction of Guerra, to aid his father. Marron followed suit, but she was unable to be of any help for the two Saiyans, since they were too fast and she was sure she would be unable to keep up with such a pace.

The demon Guerra was a handsome, tall man with pearly white skin and equally colorless, long hair, his eyes and lips however, were pitch black, just like his darkened soul. Something about his countenance was majestic and noble, but his demonic actions spoke louder than his appearance, and he soon had Vegeta and Trunks backed in a tight spot. Vegeta was the first to fall however, mostly because he had already been worn down, and he was sent straight to the debris of a neighboring building. His mouth remained open for the slightest moment in a silent scream, and then it closed, and her future father-in-law was soon out cold. Marron thought of flying in his direction, to perhaps see if he was still alive, but Guerra and Trunks had continued their heated battle, delivering punches and kicks with inhuman speed, right in-between her and the unconscious Vegeta.

However the fight ended abruptly with the defeat of the second Super Saiyan. To Marron, it all seemed to happen in slow motion, as if the universe was intent on mocking her misery. With one swift moment Guerra had knocked the air out of Super Saiyan Trunks, sending him ricocheting in the opposite direction, but before his body hit the hard concrete, Guerra didn't hesitate in shooting an all powerful pearly white energy beam at Trunks direction, impaling through skin, bone, and muscle, and penetrating right through him. A teary eyed Marron rushed in the air to his aid, and she had him in her arms before he came in contact with the hard concrete floor.

Her arms shook uncontrollably as she cradled his injured body protectively, blood seemed to be spurting out from everywhere, and the hole that penetrated his torso was a terrible sight to behold. Her tears seemed to be in free fall now and she waited patiently for him to gather words in his mouth. "Marron—live—li—live for us," he, too, cried as blood seeped from his opened mouth.

"No… hold on baby… everything will be alright," was all that Marron was able to utter between sobs.

"I—I lov—you…" And such were Trunks' final words as his eyed lolled to the back of his head and his body went completely limp. He was gone.

The blond-haired woman pressed her forehead hard against his face, crying, and finally whispered her reply into his ear, although she knew that her words were in vain, "I love you, too… I love you, too, Trunks…"

It was over for her, she had absolutely nothing else to fight for; her parents, along with Goku and Gohan, had been Guerra's first victims, and now her Trunks was forever gone. After a few seconds realization hit her and she wondered why Guerra hadn't targeted her as well. The young warrior looked up in the direction of the demon, but he was long gone; perhaps he thought it was too much of a bother to actually worry killing her, after all she wasn't much of a threat to him. Either way, she remembered that Bulma and possibly Pan were still in the building, unless Uub and Goten had succeeded in rescuing them, so perhaps she couldn't give up just yet and start looking for them. She sat next to her deceased beloved for a couple minutes more, until her heart became numb and her tears subsided. Marron gave Trunks one last, meaningful kiss before parting from him, and thought of checking up on Vegeta, but a single glance at his direction told her it was futile.

What should she do now? Who would she fight for? What was her purpose? Then she remembered Bulma and Goten and all her fellow Z Fighters that were still alive, perhaps all hope was not completely lost. She gathered Trunks' deceased body in her arms and rose up in the air. Breathing deeply the young woman powered up and floated back inside the building, placing Trunks' body neatly against a wall before crawling within the debris and making her way to Bulma's laboratory. She realized sadly that Capsule Corporation was no more and she momentarily wondered if they would be able to overcome this, and maybe with the Dragon Balls there was a chance of reviving her loved ones.

With some difficulty the young woman was able to crawl her way to the outside tunnel of Bulma's basement. Behind a steel door Marron heard voices, and felt somewhat relieved once she recognized them to be Bulma's and Uub's voices. The blond slowly pushed the metal door open and her eyes began to tear up again at the sight of Bulma bustling here and there, with a screwdriver in one hand and a piece of paper between her lips. What would she tell Bulma? How could she ever dare to deliver the terrible news that her husband and baby boy were dead? Her eyes trailed to the side and she spotted Uub, who was sitting on the floor, stitching a bloodied hand and cursing under his breath in pain.

Bulma was the first to spot her and the older woman stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of her bloody appearance. She took the papers away from her mouth with one hand and exclaimed in shock, "Marron, honey! You're bleeding everywhere!"

Uub also turned to look at her, and she didn't care if her clothes were stained with blood or if her tears still continued to fall, she just wanted to know why they were still here, acting as if nothing had happened in the past couple of hours. Marron shook her head and furrowed her eyebrows while she asked, "Why are you still—"

Bulma ran to her aid and breathed, "You're bleeding everywhere!"

"No—no it's not my blood." Such terrifying statement made the woman stop dead in her tracks.

"Then whose blood is it?" Bulma whispered, almost as if she didn't want to know the answer.

Marron simply shook her head, and the older woman seemed satisfied with the temporary answer. She sighed and went back to working on an egg-shaped machine before saying, "Goten called me from the building's security communication system, which ironically seems to be the only thing working properly here… He said that he found Pan, unconscious, that he had to use a defibrillator on her, but that she's otherwise OK. He told me he was taking her to Kami's Lookout. Is that the only safe place in this godforsaken city?"

The blond nodded and added blandly, "Yes, and that is where you need to go as well."

Her would-be mother-in-law shook her head stubbornly and said, "Not yet, I have to finish this—" but before she could finish explaining the occupants of the room were startled by a loud, exploding noise coming several flights above them.

Marron rammed the door shut behind her, full well knowing that the noise was probably Guerra's minions, looking for the remainders of the Z Fighters. "Shit. We have to get out of here, before they kill us all!" Marron had begun saying but Bulma had a different agenda in mind.

The blue-haired woman took hold of Marron's wrist and pulled her closer to the egg-shaped machine, explaining, "Marron, this is a time machine—it can take people back in time."

"What—"

"But it only has enough energy to transport only one person back in time, with a one way ticket only! And _you_ must be the one to use it," Bulma's voice was adamant and it was only because of Marron's weakened willpower and respect for the prodigy scientist that she was able to shove the young woman into the machine.

"Wait! Why me?"

"I don't know what happened in our past, no one has ever told me the stories of my history or your history, and Bulma can't fight; you're the last resort," Uub explained as he watched the door apprehensively.

"Honey! Think of Mirai Trunks! Remember what your parents told you about him! And how he changed our history twenty-five years ago!" Bulma was now rummaging in one of her drawers until she found a small capsule container pouch. She threw the pouch onto Marron hands and forced the time machine's door shut. "This will take you back in time, I'm not sure exactly when the sect that powered Demon Guerra was formed, but you must stop them at their core—" her voice was rushed and muffled through the time machine's windows, seeing how the noises outside the laboratory were getting louder and louder. Ahead of her Uub had taken a fighting stance, ready to engage whoever came bursting in through the metal laboratory door.

"What—Bulma—"

"If I knew details I would explain more, but there's no time! You have to travel now or they could destroy the time machine! The capsules have everything you need. Good luck baby girl, the fate of our lives are in your hands." And with that she punched a code into the time machine's control panel and the last thing Marron saw before disappearing into oblivion was a light beam that blew the laboratory door open, sending Bulma crashing away to the other side of the room from the impact, making her fall to her side, unconscious.

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**_Dragon Ball Z, and it's characters, do not belong to me. This was made for leisure and nonprofit purposes only._**


	2. 23 Years Into the Past

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_**Twenty-three years into the past**_

Her golden hair flailed wildly in her shoulders as the ship shook around her violently. For the slightest moment, the vibrations in the time machine seized; an opportunity she used to exhale deeply as she brought a shaky hand to wipe the smeared tears on her face. Again, the wild rattling of her malfunctioning ship started, and her hand flew to the steering wheel, to gain control of the machine. Her pitiful situation only added to her frustration and Marron couldn't help the tears that streamed out of her forget-me-not blue eyes. With her left hand she held the operation manual of the time machine, while her right hand fought the steering wheel in her attempts to steer her ship into a somewhat safe landing.

Marron Chestnut had absolutely no experience when it came to flying Capsule Corp.'s ships, let alone a time machine; she never had a need to learn how, always being able to fly herself to places. Of course, the moment she boarded the ship, in her haste to go back in time to begin her journey to change her past and, ultimately, her present, she had no idea that she would find herself in such a predicament. She felt absolutely hopeless, and decidedly gave in to the fact that she was about to crash land. Her trip to the past had been a success, mind you, but she had not expected that the damned machine would malfunction just as it appeared twenty years into the past. Marron knew there had to be some sort of abort switch… for the ship had locked itself shut the moment it traveled through time (perhaps it was designed this way to protect its passengers), and the moment her ship being to malfunction she had seized the operating manual for some enlightenment.

It was, however, rather difficult to flip pages while her body shook and her eyes cried and her hand held the steering wheel.

Through the window she could see the ground coming rapidly close to her, or rather, the ship coming painfully close to the ground. She threw the operation manual aside and brought her arms around her body to prepare herself for the rough landing. Seven… six… four seconds until the ship made contact with the ground… two… and with a sickening crash everything around her shook and her body was thrown backwards and something pointy painfully impaled her shoulder and then suddenly everything went black.

Marron opened her eyes and thanked the heavens that the pain in her body wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. The young woman figured—and felt grateful of—that her martial arts training with her father and family friends must have made her slightly more resistance to forces and impacts such as these. She laid there, crumpled within the debris of her time machine, feeling miserable and silly. Her arm was rested on Kami knows what below her face, and she was able to slightly graze her eyes with her fingertips. Her eyes hurt, however not because of the rough crash landing, but because she had been sobbing before the time machine began to malfunction. For a moment the air seemed to have been sucked out of her lungs and her racing heart did a double-back flip as the memories of her woes and the harshness of her reality began to sink in.

The very reason why she had begun this journey in the first place was because she could no longer call her present time _home_. Everyone was gone, _everyone;_ most importantly, however, her Trunks was gone. Marron fought the tears and cursed under breath, this was not the time to start crying again; she had to get her body out of this goddamned heap of metal. With great effort she shoved the debris in front of her aside, and instantly realized _and finally_ noticed the sharp tube that had impaled her right shoulder. She eyed the pointy solid with disgust and concluded that her shoulder must have gone numb by the impact, but now that she was well aware of her injury, every nerve in that general area seemed to have flared up.

With some difficulty the young woman was able to crawl out of the totaled ship and, with her shoulder aching, she reached for the ship capsule and within a matter of seconds the heap of scraps that once had been a time machine was compressed into the tiny, pill-sized capsule. Marron withdrew yet another capsule and summoned her first aid kit, promptly setting to bandage her hurt shoulder. Careful not to cause her body anymore pain she took her shirt off, and sat on the hot dirt with only her bra on as she began, with much difficulty, applying ointment to her cut and wrapping her shoulder in bandages, just like her father had once taught her.

After she had fully bandaged her arm she then took out yet another capsule, which she figured contained a full wardrobe, and summoned an appropriate set of clothes to change on, since her previous outfit was covered with the crusty, ruby-red remnants of her deceased fiancé's blood. Marron looked around her surroundings for a couple seconds, just to check that no one was peeping in her moment of privacy, and proceeded to undress her pants. She quickly put on a pretty canary yellow top that was adorned with a cartoon of the planet earth and snug jeans, then she checked her hair and face and simply shrugged off the fact that her face was smeared with dry tears; there was absolutely no one she wanted to look pretty for anymore, so she didn't care. Once finished, now that she didn't have an aching shoulder and a feeling of homelessness to worry about, she was finally able to observe and take in her surroundings.

The time machine had taken her to what looked like a canyon. Sets of cliffs and rocky mountains adorned the landscape—not that she was particularly fond of this sort of environment—while a dry, lonely wind blew from within the valleys formed by the mountains. Her inner warrior awoke when the young woman sensed a strong, yet much familiar, ki coming from a few miles away, then two ki's followed, and then another, and another. Five warriors were engaged in a battle, but what was peculiar about this situation was that she could tell they weren't fighting each other. Her pretty face broke into a wide grin when she pinpointed the ki of Krillin; _her father was here_!

Without hesitating she took a deep breath, powered up, and flew in the direction of the battle to investigate, her heart soaring with the hope of seeing her dad once again. She reached the site of the fight merely moments later, but was careful to hide her ki as she slowly approached the fighters from behind. Her eyes met the sight of a badly injured Tien and then they trailed to watch the Super Saiyan Vegeta, who seemed to be busy simply mocking a warrior whose ki she just couldn't sense. Marron walked closer, screwing her eyes in an effort to see who exactly Vegeta was trying to beat up, and then her heart dropped at the sight of Android #20; if her calculations were correct, and what her parents had told her was true, the timeline she had wanted to travel to was several months after the fight with the androids and Cell, _she had gone too far back in time_.

She stood silently, watching from a distance, until eventually Piccolo, who had been floating up in the air all this time, noticed her presence. He alerted his comrades of the new warrior that had joined the scene, and Krillin, who was nearest to her, asked after shifting his fighting stance in her direction. "What—who are you?"

The young woman gave him a sad smile and shook her head as she slightly stepped forward before replying, "I'm just a passerby, I'm waiting for Vegeta to finish his fight before I can explain everything."

Krillin seemed taken aback by the fact that this girl knew exactly who Vegeta was. He eased his defensive stance and continued questioning her, "How do you know Vegeta? What's your name?"

"My name is Marron, and it's kind of a long story how I know Vegeta, but first, could you tell me the year and the date?" Marron finally walked closer to Krillin, feeling Gohan's and Piccolo's apprehensive stares on her, and noticed how the five ki's she sensed earlier must have been Tien's, Piccolo's, Vegeta's, Gohan's, and Krillin's.

The young man cocked his head to the side and smiled curiously at the stranger's request. "It's the first of April, age 767," Krillin replied simply, and Marron cursed under her breath; now she was stuck in the wrong time with a broken down time machine. For a moment it seemed as if the short man was studying her face, trying to pinpoint her resemblances, but a loud explosion from the other side of the battlefield caught their attention, and they quickly turned to see Vegeta kicking Android #20 towards a canyon, causing the cliff to collapse beneath him. Vegeta's fighting tactics soon became fiercer, and it was as if the Saiyan Prince had grown tired of playing around with the android and he was finally bringing the battle to an end. "Marron—uh, you look familiar, have I met or seen you before?" Asked Krillin as he somehow felt that it was safe to let his guard down around the stranger, for he inwardly felt secure around her presence.

Before the blond-haired woman could reply, however, they sensed another strong ki rapidly flying towards them from the west, and they turned their heads until they were able to spot the lavender-haired warrior that was rapidly coming their way. The young man landed neatly merely yards away from them and for the second time today Marron felt the air being sucked out of her lungs in sheer surprise. She inhaled sharply and her face turned hot as tears begun to threaten to cascade down her face. Despite all the events that led her to her current disposition, and despite the fact that merely hours ago she had watched her fiancé die as he fought to protect her, somehow, someway, before her stood none other than Trunks Brief.

For a second, Marron inspected his face and immediately realized something was off in him. Something about him seemed more tired, more battle-hardened, a little younger, and, most importantly, the stare he set on her was hard and cold, and in an instant she knew that this Trunks was not _her_ Trunks. Her mind raced and she remembered the stories her parents had once told her of the Mirai Trunks; it had been those very stories that had given Bulma the idea of making her come back to the past in hopes that she could fix their present and, hopefully, their future.

Recognition graced his tired face and Marron's heart broke all over again at the hatred in his eyes; hatred that was directed at her and her only. Almost instinctively, Trunks' hand grasped the tilt of the sword poised behind his back and with a low, dangerous murmur he asked, "You're Android #18, aren't you? If you've come to hurt them, then I am prepared to fight you."

Beside her, Krillin jumped back in surprise and exclaimed, "What? She's one of the androids?" At his words everyone's attention turned to her—including Vegeta and Android #20—and she had to take a step back and raise her hands up in the air in defense.

"No—really! I just happen look like her!" The blond faked a nervous laugh before continuing, "Look, I'm not the android and I'm not gonna fight you. If you don't believe me, really think about it, would any of the androids turn down a fight?" Her voice shook as Trunks' eyes softened, and for a second she was afraid that her eyes would tear up right then and there.

"Then who are you? And who is _him_?" His beautiful, cerulean blue eyes turned in the direction of Android #20, who, now that everyone's attention was on Marron, was slowly getting up to his feet hoping to escape.

"What do you mean '_who_'? You mean you don't know who these people are?" Vegeta yelled angrily from the other side of the battlefield.

"What's going on?" Marron heard Trunks whisper as he turned his full attention to his father. She pondered momentarily if now was the right time to explain of her existence in this timeline, but her reverie was broken by Vegeta's loud outburst.

"If it's not the right android, then what the devil is it?" The Saiyan Prince asked loudly as he pointed an accusing finger at Android #20.

Before anyone could respond, and as if nothing else could add to the confusion, the roaring of an engine captured their attention as a Capsule Corp. ship began to approach the canyon. Marron looked up and her eyes met a ship she could easy recognize, for she had often seen several like this parked outside the Brief's family residence. Bulma's radiant face could be easily recognized past the windshield, along with Yajirobe's much grumpier face, as the flying ship was rapidly heading in their direction. In the warriors' moment of distraction, however, a much desperate Android #20 took the opportunity to his advantage, blasting an energy ball at the Capsule Corp. ship before disappearing within the dusty clouds of smoke and exclaiming, "I SPOKE THE TRUTH WHEN I SAID YOU HAVE NO CHANCE! NUMBERS 17 AND 18 WILL COME FOR YOU SOON!"

The warriors were taken by surprise and Marron instinctively knew to fly in the aid of Bulma and Yajirobe. Beside her, she sensed Trunks also join her in her quick rescue, and before anymore damage could be done she was, with some difficulty, holding the heavier back of Yajirobe while Trunks held his mother and her infant child in his arms. The two of them then floated back down, allowing Bulma and Yajirobe to safely stand on the ground. There was a fleeting moment in which Trunks showed some sort of resentment towards his father for him not going in the aid of his wife and son, but Vegeta disregarded his son's anger and departed in hot pursuit of Android #20, and so the remaining warriors remained behind, to finally try to understand the unsettling change of events.

"Oh my gosh, what the hell was that? And who are you, honey?" Bulma asked after dusting herself off, now that her feet were on solid ground.

Marron's blue eyes lingered momentarily on the baby Trunks and, with her best attempt at a smile, she replied, "My name is Marron. That android was Dr. Gero, I suspect."

"What? That was Dr. Gero himself? And how can you be so sure about that?" Trunks asked in suspicion. Something about the way he looked at her made her shudder, and she sometimes felt jealous of the gentle gazes he exchanged with his mother and his friends.

The young woman sighed and simply said, "Just trust me; he's probably on his way to activate the androids as we speak."

Trunks huffed condescendingly before withdrawing and pointing his sword at her, "I knew there was something off about you. You look just like that wretched Android #18. Do you work for them? Are you trying to infiltrate and spy on us?"

"Guys—" Bulma begun saying but was cut off by a frustrated Marron.

"So what if I'm related to them? And no, I'm not trying to spy on you guys, _I'm on your side_," She replied in defiance, putting stress on her last statement; her face hot and her heart racing.

It seemed that Trunks was getting ready to smart a remark when Piccolo intervened by saying, "Look, we are gaining absolutely nothing by bickering amongst ourselves. Marron, what else do you know about this Dr. Gero?"

The blond finally lifted her heavy gaze from Trunks' equally defiant glare and turned to Piccolo, "I know where his hideout is, I can lead you there."

"Alright then. Gohan, you take Bulma, baby Trunks, and Yajirobe to Goku's place; I'm sure he'll want to know about this, and about _you_," instructed Piccolo, giving Marron a meaningful glance as he finished his sentence, and then he continued, "The rest of us, let's follow Marron to Dr. Gero's hideout. Hopefully we will get there before he does… before he activates the androids." The young half-Saiyan nodded and waved his goodbyes to his fellow warriors before getting a hold of Bulma and Yajirobe and heading off in the direction of his house. Now that they were alone, Krillin, Piccolo, Tien and Trunks turned to Marron, expecting her to lead them to Dr. Gero's hideout.

Mistrust was clear in the way Trunks looked at her, and there was a slight hesitation in her as she was mesmerized by his gaze, until finally, with a cynicism that was alien to his personality, he said, "Well then, prove to us that you're on our side, Marron. Lead us there."

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**_Dragon Ball Z, and it's characters, do not belong to me. This was made for leisure and nonprofit purposes only._**


	3. Marron from the Future

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**_Marron from the Future_**

The young woman sighed and powered up before taking flight. She felt slightly apprehensive of the warriors that were following her, even though she knew them in her future—something about the way Trunks treated her made her feel as if they were slowly becoming more and more apprehensive towards _her_. Exactly into what kind of predicament had she gotten herself into? This was absolutely not part of the plan. What if they reached Dr. Gero's hideout before he activated Android #18 and Android #17? If any of them actually managed to destroy Android #18 then she would be jeopardizing her future existence in this timeline; she had to find a way to stall without raising their suspicions. However what bothered her the most, and what hurt her the most, was the way Trunks spoke to and looked at her, but she had to understand—she looked very much alike the murderer that destroyed his life, much like Guerra had destroyed hers.

She quickly thought for a minute and simply settled on concealing her ki and reducing her flying speed to allow time for Dr. Gero to reach his laboratory. Beside her, she could feel Trunks' energy levels spike up every once in a while in irritation at her inability to fly any faster. Marron made a few useless, discreet turns within the canyons but eventually gave in to Trunks' pressure and finished leading the way to the mad scientist's hideout. Once they arrived to the cliff within which Gero's laboratory was situated, though, she was delighted to see that he was already climbing in, and was probably just a few seconds away from activating Androids #17 and #18…

"Over there! I see him!" Krillin was the first to spot Dr. Gero hastily climbing the cliff, but her insides panicked when Trunks powered up and rushed towards the laboratory. Marron followed suit and intercepted Trunks before he could get any closer to the entrance. She extended her arms as if shielding the hideout in hopes to buy Dr. Gero a little more time.

"What are you doing?" Trunks spat.

"Please, you mustn't blow up this place, not yet." Marron lowered her face in guilt, after all, she had told them that she was on their side. No; she was on _her own_ side.

Trunks chuckled derisively just as Vegeta arrived near the cliff. He withdrew his sword as if taking pleasure from the fact that he had been right all along about her and said, "So you _are_ working for Dr. Gero."

"No, I'm—"

"Move over!" Vegeta's blast took her by surprise and she was sent hurling away from the warriors and from the cliff.

Marron landed painfully yards away and her insides panicked once she saw Vegeta once again blast an energy ball at the barricaded entrance to Gero's laboratory. Her body trembled painfully as a strong wave of pain coming from her previously injured shoulder hit her, this however, she decidedly ignored, as her mind was still focused on the fates of her inactivated relatives. The young woman rose from the rubble of stone and floated towards the smoking entrance of the lab.

After several painful seconds of anticipation the smoke finally cleared, and amongst the debris of metal and concrete stood Dr. Gero and a short, handsome black haired teenager alongside an equally beautiful blond young woman. Her blue eyes lingered on the younger version of her mother and for the slightest moment images of the terror and the suffering that now filled her life flashed through her eyes. She bit her lip and focused her attention on the beautifully flawless face of her future mother, her heart ached and she secretly wished she could have it all back.

Initially the androids ignored the warriors that had tore down the door to the laboratory as Dr. Gero argued with the dark-haired boy and the young woman walked towards a pod holding another android, swaying her hips tentatively in her wake. A third android was activated, much to everyone's shock and disappointment (except for Marron, who was quite satisfied with the outcome of the events), and suddenly, out of nowhere, the black haired teen kicked Dr. Gero's head in a burst of annoyance and indifference, finally finishing him off.

Smirking, Marron slowly floated back, closer to Krillin, who by now was acting even more apprehensive towards her and the two of them moved to a concrete street by the cliff side and watched in the sidelines as Vegeta fought Android #18, throwing kicks and punches that were futile against the female android's superior strength. "I'm sorry," Marron murmured to her father as Android #18 delivered yet another powerful kick at Vegeta's direction.

"Why did you? Why did you stop Trunks from destroying Dr. Gero and his hideout?" Krillin asked in bouts of suppressed anger.

"They weren't meant to die just yet…"

"And who are you to decide that? Now we will be at their mercy!" Trunks seemed to have picked up on the conversation and had approached them. "I knew you were—" but he never got to finish, for as soon as Android #18 broke Vegeta's arm, his attention shifted to the battle, and eventually Trunks couldn't continue holding back his urge to join in to aid his father. Android #17 soon noticed the intrusion on the battle, delivering Trunks a series of painful kicks, almost making Marron cringe in terror at the sight. Piccolo and Tien then also joined in, and Marron could feel her father about to jump in to the fight, but thanked the heavens when she saw him hesitate and stay behind, paralyzed in amazement as the androids easily dismissed his comrades.

The young woman bit her lip when another sharp wave of pain overtook her shoulder, and this time her attention shifted to the source of the throb. She then realized that Vegeta's attack from earlier had cause the wound in her shoulder to open up, making her clothes stain with ruby-red blood and her arm feel feeble and numb. She tsk'ed despite of herself; she truly had _liked_ the shirt she was wearing and now it was ruined. Marron turned to look at her father and saw him too staring at her bleeding torso. She smiled and, after sighing miserably, told him, "I will explain everything soon. Oh—my arm is alright, it's no big deal." Then she motioned at the fighting that was going on below them, "They have to stop fighting though, they can't beat the androids, at least not just yet."

Just as she had expected, one by one, Vegeta, Tien, Piccolo, and Trunks were easily dismissed by Android #17's assault. Marron's insides writhed as she watched the people she cared about getting beat and being tortured by her blood relatives, but she couldn't intervene; she knew that Android #18 and Android #17 were not going to kill them. Vegeta was beaten to unconsciousness by her mother, and she watched as the Prince of Saiyans' hair ceased glowing, turning back to its original ebony color. #17 and #18 then floated back up to the street, facing Marron and Krillin, the only two fighters remaining standing.

"Don't worry they're still alive, you better feed them the Senzu fast, though," #17 told Krillin with a smirk, his eyes then shifted to the second stranger, noticing her for the first time, and was shocked to realize that her information was not on his database. Something about her eyes drew his attention though, and his gaze lingered on her a little longer as he wondered and tried to pinpoint her resemblance. As if huffing the thought away, the black haired teen then smirked and told them, "Tell them we'll play with them again anytime they feel up to it. See ya."

His blond companion shifted her weight, annoyed at her brother for his nonchalant attitude and asked him, "Aren't you going to ask them where Goku is?" Marron locked gazes with her mother for the slightest moment, blue meeting blue, and her heart felt like it was ready to jump and tear with so many emotions. She wanted to cry, she wanted to hug the woman, and, most importantly, she wanted to forget everything that had happened in her timeline.

"It's more fun to take our time searching for him, #18. Don't you agree #16?" The young man turned his attention at the older android, but was ignored, since the man seemed to be too busy gazing up at the sky, lost in his own secret reverie.

"Whatever." #18 turned on her heel, annoyance clearly present in her forget-me-not blue eyes.

Marron and Krillin stood there in the street, by the windy cliff side, watching as the androids turned around and simply began walking away, while their comrades laid unconscious on the rocky hill below them. The young woman, however, knew something was bothering her father and, effectively, with determination on his eyes, Krillin flew towards the androids, catching Marron in surprise. She thought of stopping him, but resolved to letting him be and just hoped that he wasn't about to pick a fight with them.

"Hold on!" The short man bellowed behind them.

The androids turned to face him with #17 asking, annoyed, "What do _you_want?"

"What is it that you want? Are you planning on just killing Goku or taking over the world?" Krillin finally allowed his body to stop floating and he landed neatly on the hard concrete floor.

"Hmm," the black-haired teen pondered his reply for a moment before answering, "For now we'll just worry about finding Goku. Then maybe later, if we feel up to it, we can maybe take over the world?" He exchanged glances with his mates, perhaps silently asking for permission, and then he concluded, "Don't you get it? This is just a game to us."

Android #18 slowly walked closer to the much shorter man, leaning closer to his paralyzed form and delivering him a gentle kiss on the cheek before whispering, "Later." Unbothered by their companion's behavior the three androids simply turned away once again and lifted themselves up in the air without any hesitation, taking off into the sky.

Marron couldn't help the grin that graced her face once she saw the beginning of her parents' infatuation. She hardly hid her toothless smile as the short man walked back to her, taken aback by #18. "Krillin, the Senzu beans!" The young woman had to remind her dad, seeing how he was somewhat in a daze.

"Right." He tossed two Senzu beans at her opened hands and directed his attention to his fallen comrades.

The blond woman quickly flew towards Vegeta, carelessly shoving a bean into his mouth—mostly in revenge for having blasted her back in Dr. Gero's hideout. She then walked over to Trunks, and his fallen countenance made her heart ache, reminding her of the events that took place barely a few hours ago. Marron knelt next to him, gently pressing the Senzu bean through his chapped lips. Almost instantly his eyelids fluttered open, and she felt mesmerized by his innocent, blue eyes. She, however, didn't notice the way her body had tipped closer to his, and it took a glare from him for her to realize that she was perhaps a little too close to him for his comfort. Marron coughed apologetically and stood up, away from him.

"Damn them…" Vegeta murmured to himself, now that he was fully rejuvenated and on his feet, facing the other warriors.

"Wait… why didn't they finish us off?" Tien asked Krillin and Marron as he dusted his clothes off.

"What, you wanted to be killed by them? Useless earthling…" Vegeta snapped irritably at his direction.

"They probably didn't think we were worth killing. Those damn androids, I never would have imagined that they would be so strong," contributed Piccolo to the conversation.

"I don't understand though, they are nothing like the androids in my timeline," Trunks said in an almost whisper. He caught Marron staring at him and his insides burned at the unfazed expression in her eyes, "Now you're going to explain who you are and what is going on?"

The female warrior sighed in defeat before saying, "right, yes—my name is Marron, to all those that don't know." She exchanged glances with Vegeta then continued, "I come from the future—I traveled back in time, just like you, Trunks."

"What—"

"Yes. And the reason why I look so much like Android #18 is because she is my mother," Marron watched them apprehensively, simply hoping that none of them would get the idea to fight her just because of her heritage.

"Damn you! No wonder you wanted to keep her alive!" Vegeta exclaimed loudly and somehow he felt better, now knowing that he could probably defeat the android's daughter if he wanted to; if he couldn't beat the mother then he might as well take his frustration out on the daughter.

"But I'm your ally—we're you're allies. Trunks, for some reason the androids in this timeline aren't as bad as they are in yours. My mother turns over to our side in the future, and she fights alongside us," She explained, giving Krillin a meaningful glance, if anyone here was going to understand and believe her, she just hoped it would be him.

"Then who is your father, girl?" Piccolo asked her patiently.

Marron looked down at the rough ground beneath her, avoiding their gazes, and answered, "That I can't tell you."

"Why—" Tien had begun to say but Vegeta interrupted him.

"Let me guess, Frieza himself came back from the dead to father you. I mean, who else would mate with that abomination of a woman?" said Vegeta with cynicism. Marron simply clutched her throbbing shoulder, ignoring his sarcastic remark.

"She can't tell you because if she does then she would probably be jeopardizing her existence," the young woman sharply looked up and stared at Trunks in wonder; she was amazed that he had actually jumped in to her aid.

"How would telling us jeopardize her existence?" Tien asked again.

"Let me ask you something Tien, if I told you that you were going to marry and have a kid with Android #18 wouldn't you feel uncomfortable about the idea? Would you go along with it now that you know it's going to happen?" Trunks expertly proposed the idea and continued once he saw Tien hastily shake his head, "Ignorance is bliss. If you knew you probably would never 'make her,'" Trunks said with a retrained laugh. "I had the same problem when I came here two years ago, that's why I only spoke to Goku about why I was here."

"Yeah… thanks," Marron blushed slightly now that it was her queue to continue her explanation. She cleared her throat and found it harder to continue, now that she was getting to the real reason why she was here. The young woman exhaled sharply and began, "The reason why I traveled twenty years into the past is because—because I have to stop the creation of a demon named Guerra."

Her face turned hot and her voice shook slightly, so she shifted her gaze down to her quivering hands, praying to the heavens that she wouldn't break down crying right there and then. "In my present, the demon Guerra has planned to conquer the entire planet, and he initiated this—this madness by targeting and killing off each single Z Fighter, so that he wouldn't have any opposition in his conquest. The problem is that none of us seemed to be strong enough to defeat him, and so he was succeeding in hunting us down," the young woman had to make a pause, as the words began to choke in her throat. "Goku… Gohan… were the first to be killed, then Krillin and my mom—" Marron covered her mouth in a second's pause as she fought back the memories and the hurt. "I'm sorry…" She apologized.

"Take your time," Krillin smiled up at her, reassuringly.

Her heart leapt when she saw the unmistakable eyes of her father and her eyes immediately watered, oh how she _missed_ them. "Then Vegeta was killed and Trunks, too, right after. The last thing I knew before I came here was that Bulma and Uub were in trouble—"

"Uub?" Intercepted Piccolo.

Marron shook her head dismissively, "some kid that's born in the future."

"Why didn't mother come with you as well?" Trunks finally asked.

"It all happened too fast—she said that the time machine only had enough energy for one person and one journey only," the young woman explained.

"You mean you can't travel back?" Trunks tilted his head to the side in such a deliciously cute way that almost made Marron smile.

She swiftly shook her head, swallowed, and said, "Not that I could anyways… the time machine is a wreck; I crash-landed here, and it's completely totaled."

"Hmph, I don't have time for this emotional garbage. Me, killed by some loser named Guerra? Right." Vegeta said as he powered up, the Prince of Saiyans then shot up into the air without even a single glance and left the scene, intent on getting his revenge with the androids.

Something about the way Vegeta took off made Marron grimace, and immediately Trunks noticed her bleeding shoulder, "Are you… bleeding?"

Marron gasped despite of herself, glancing at her bloodied clothes, and smiled in embarrassment, "Yeah, some tube sort of stabbed my shoulder, I had managed to bandage it up but Vegeta's blast opened the wound again…"

"Go on, take a Senzu bean," her father handed her a small Senzu bean encouragingly, which Marron swallowed with a gracious smile. The relief that followed was bliss. Then Krillin asked as his eyes trailed up to the dot that was Vegeta in the sky, "so what do we do now?"

"Well _I_ can't do anything about Guerra yet; the time machine took me too far back in time… I'm gonna have to sit this one out until it's time to act," explained the blond-haired girl, shrugging.

"_You_ go hurry to Goku's house and move him somewhere else. We will stall the androids if that's what it takes…" Piccolo began instructing, "I have somewhere to be, however." And with those last few words he also took off, just like Vegeta.

"Sheesh, talk about temper," Krillin said with a smirk. He could already tell that Piccolo was probably on his way to Kami's Lookout, most likely in hopes of becoming 'whole' again. "I guess we should start heading over to Goku's then," said the short man as he allowed his body to float up, slowly rising up into the air.

Tien, Trunks, and Marron followed right after him, and soon all four had levitated meters into the air. As they flew Marron noticed how Trunks was less apprehensive of her now, this made her smile—the fact that her deceased fiancé's alternate persona didn't hate her anymore made her feel somewhat relieved. Eventually she made her mind up and decided to address her previous blunder. "Hey, sorry about what happened at Dr. Gero's hideout," She said softly enough that only Trunks could hear her.

At first he was slightly surprised that she was addressing him, then his gaze on her softened and he replied, "It's no problem, if we had destroyed the androids before they were activated then you would never be born, I understand that." Deep down he just hoped that what Marron had said was true and the androids would not turn on them and begin destroying the planet.

Marron smiled at his reply and secretly wished that he would continue with their small talk until they arrived to Goku's house, but all throughout the flight Trunks' eyes remained focused ahead of him, and never once did he address her again, so she was left to bask in the comfort of their silence.

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**_Dragon Ball Z, and it's characters, do not belong to me. This was made for leisure and nonprofit purposes only._**


	4. The Super Saiyan in the Attic

**Visit my profile for the official artwork of** _**Mirai Marron**_**!**  
Remember to review your opinion! Love y'all.

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**_The Super Saiyan in the Attic_**

When they reached Goku's house there had been a great feeling of urgency in Trunks' and Krillin's actions—Tien had taken a detour to go see Chiaotzu—and Marron momentarily wondered if they didn't yet understand that the androids were not meant to kill Goku after all. Nevertheless she remained quiet and unnoticed once the two fighters met with Chi-Chi and told the occupants of her house about what had happened outside of Dr. Gero's hideout. It wasn't until after the Son family, Bulma, Yamcha, Trunks, and Krillin were comfortable situated in the Capsule Corp. flying ship that the blond fighter was able to explain the happenings that led her to her journey.

"No way! So you're from the future as well?" Bulma asked after Marron was finished with her tale.

"A different future," Marron corrected her with a small smile.

"Geez, it must have been really bad if you had to come here with only enough energy for one trip!" Yamcha exclaimed while he gazed out the cockpit, as he piloted the ship.

The young woman remained silent, avoiding eye contact with anyone in the flying ship. She sat on the floor in a far corner of the ship in solitude and a small question suddenly popped into her mind. Did she ever want to go back? Oh how she wished she could blissfully ignore everything that happened to her and start over, but how could she possibly do that? Everyone she met in this timeline treated her like a stranger; she wouldn't be able to handle being forever more just a girl from their future, and not a part of their family and friends, like she had grown up to and was used to being.

Once or twice she stole a glance in Trunks' direction and smiled despite of herself; no matter how different this Trunks seemed, she couldn't help but momentarily imagine that he was the same person she had lost. The lavender-haired youth must have felt her gaze on him, for he turned his eyes to meet with hers, making her face flush as she was caught staring at him. Blue met with blue, and after a little while he offered her an understanding smile, seemingly unfazed. Out of shame Marron looked down to her hands, but she quickly realized that he probably felt the same way she did regarding this past. OK, so maybe he did have the option of going back to his future, as his time machine still had energy left for the way back, but he must have felt like a stranger to them as well, secretly hoping to belong.

For the rest of the flight Marron was distracted by Bulma and Krillin and Yamcha as they had a heated conversation about the recent events regarding the androids and Goku's condition, and after perhaps an hour the Capsule Corp. ship had begun to descend and was ready to land over sandy ground, just outside of Kame House. They all exited the ship, Chi-Chi leading the way as Trunks and Yamcha carefully helped Goku get into the house.

Master Roshi's surprised expression when he saw all of them outside of his door was almost comical, and the old man was momentarily tempted to grope Bulma and Marron once or twice, but his thoughts quickly drifted as he had to figure out the accommodations for the new group of people that would be staying in his small, three-bedroom house. "Goku, Chi-Chi, and Gohan can have one of the bigger bedrooms upstairs," Master Roshi puffed as he groggily walked with his cane into the living room. "Uhh, Miss—" The old man addressed Marron, motioning that he didn't quite know her name yet.

"Marron," the young woman answered simply.

"Yes—Marron, I'm afraid you're going to have to share a room with one of the guys, since there isn't enough space for four men in one bedroom…" Master Roshi's eyes twinkled at the proposition of sharing a room with a woman; perhaps he could even get lucky with her.

"But what about Bulma?" The blond had begun to ask but was quickly answered by the older woman.

"I'm not going to stay here, I'm leaving to Capsule Corp. soon; I didn't bring any diapers for my little Trunks."

"Oh—"

"I can sleep on the couch, it's no big deal." Everyone then turned their attention to Trunks, who had just politely offered to sleep in the living room.

Master Roshi's disappointment at his response was obvious. "Very well then, Krillin and Yamcha, you two can crash in my room," the old man spluttered as he grumpily made his way to the kitchen, leaving the room.

For the remainder of the day Marron almost felt at peace, as she was back at the place she was so used to calling home and coincidently, Master Roshi allowed her to use the same room she had back in her time. Marron didn't hesitate before hopping up the stairs and heading over to the old bedroom, a wave of nostalgia washing over her when she entered the room. Her feet led her to the window that overlooked the sandy shore and Marron had to fight back tears that simply wouldn't leave her be. With one final sigh she withdrew the wardrobe capsule that Bulma had given her and proceeded to undress, intent on taking a shower and changing out of her bloodied garments. Once she finished showering and was done getting dressed and fixing her now damp hair, she made up her mind and decided to head downstairs with the rest.

Now that she was in the living room she noticed that despite the fact that they were fazed by and hiding from the androids, the occupants of the house somehow found a way to busy themselves and even almost resume their daily activities. Marron saw that Krillin and Yamcha had found a way to keep themselves entertained by watching a wrestling match on the TV, and noticed that Bulma and Chi-Chi were off gossiping in the kitchen. The young woman lingered wordlessly by the couch, basking on the warm atmosphere, but her idleness came to a halt when she noticed the suggestive glances Master Roshi sent her way once or twice. So to escape Master Roshi's ogling, Marron had to sneak out and find solitude outside of the house, by the beach. She walked past Bulma's ship and her bare feet kept walking until they made contact with the warm, gentle waves of the beach.

Marron sighed as she allowed her mind to wander and almost involuntarily her thoughts drifted to Trunks; she remembered how her Trunks had once told her that he wanted to build a house for her on an island similar to this, so that they could always have a place to retreat for vacationing. Would she ever want to fulfill that dream? By herself? Her musing, however, was interrupted when she heard the soft sound of boots pressing against the sand, and she turned her face to see Trunks slowly approaching her chosen place of solitude. The young woman was startled for a second, then welcomed him with a "Hey."

"Hi," his beautiful eyes didn't spare her a glance, and soon he, too, found himself gazing out at the twilight-struck horizon. For a second she was tempted to reach over and take his hand in hers, but her mind quickly snapped and she imagined how awkward he would feel if she actually did do that. "It's a mad house in there; I had to get away," Trunks chuckled, bringing her back to reality.

Marron joined in with soft laughter and said with a smile, "I admire them, even though they know they are in danger, they seem to find a positive light in their lifestyles."

At this, his handsome face turned to her and he told her, "Back home, the androids terrorized the planet for so long that even if for the slightest moments we didn't forget and tried to have a good time together we would have probably gone mad." He tried to mask the emotion in his words when he spoke, but Marron knew Trunks' tenor so well that she could recognize the pain and the sadness. "So my trip here wasn't in vain then? Their future is truly saved from the androids?" The half-Saiyan asked her.

The young woman slowly nodded her head, but her smile faded and she said, "Yes, but now they are at the mercy of Guerra."

Before Trunks could reply, however, the two of them turned back, as they heard someone quickly approaching. "Marron! Trunks! Are you guys busy?" Bulma asked them while she unlocked her flying ship.

"No, what's up?" Marron answered.

"Well I have some boxes up in the attic from when I used to live here that I need to take ASAP to Capsule Corp., and they're real heavy, so I need some help." She must have thought that they were going to turn her down, for she quickly added in, "I already asked everyone inside, and Master Roshi and Yamcha are being dicks, and Gohan is being tutored by Chi-Chi, and Krillin is taking care of little Trunks for me…" Bulma seemed defeated.

"Oh don't worry, we'll help you out," Trunks quickly told her reassuringly.

"Yeah," said Marron while she walked over to the older woman.

Bulma sighed in gratitude, "Thanks guys. The boxes I need should have Capsule Corp.'s logo on them, so they're easily recognizable. I'm gonna be out here doing some quick repairs to the ship if you need me."

Trunks and Marron walked inside just as the sun finished setting. Once they were finally up in the attic and Marron picked up the first Capsule Corp. box, she realized that Bulma had been right; the boxes _were_ heavy—if Marron had not had previous training in the martial arts she would have probably been unable to even carry a single one downstairs. No wonder Bulma had been so desperate for help in loading them out of the attic. "Exactly what are inside these boxes?" Marron exclaimed loudly as she carried one out of the attic. She looked back at Trunks who was silent for a second and rolled her eyes in annoyance after seeing him loading a third box onto the pile he had in his arms; she shouldn't be surprised, he had Saiyan blood after all.

"They're actually not so bad, I would carry more but then I wouldn't be able to see in front of me," he said lightly as he followed her down the stairs.

"Right—Mr. Macho," she joked, and he simply laughed behind her.

They unloaded the boxes onto the back side of the ship and amongst jokes and smiles headed back up again to the attic, to continue with their task at hand. The attic was now very dark, since the only source of illumination had been a few weak rays of sunlight coming from a tiny window, but now that night had fallen, they had to rely on the light pooling in from the outside hallway. Marron felt around for the boxes, tripping once or twice with the misplaced furniture and training equipment Master Roshi had dumped in his attic. She huffed in exasperation and finally asked, "Are you able to find anything in this darkness?"

"Kinda…" his boyish voice trailed and before she could murmur her displeasure, a soft, golden light overtook the room, making her turn around to face him in surprise. A smile graced her face once she realized that Trunks had turned Super Saiyan for her, so that she wouldn't feel so annoyed by the lack of illumination.

Marron was speechless for a second, then, avoiding his gaze so that he couldn't see her blush, she said, "Thanks, that's much better now." Pleased with the fact that she could now see where the hell she was walking, Marron continued looking for Bulma's boxes in the messy attic. She noticed a small box that was labeled 'Private' and her attention drifted as she began rummaging in the box. Marron chuckled loudly when she saw the stash of porn that probably belonged to Master Roshi.

"Sup?" Trunks said, as he became preoccupied with Marron's amusement.

The young woman motioned him towards the box and said, "Take a look at this—this is priceless."

Trunks' green, Super Saiyan eyes gazed upon the secret box containing the adult-rated VHS's and he threw his head back in laughter. Marron laughed alongside him, but didn't take her eyes off his face, and it was in moments like these that her heart ached the most. Why couldn't she just have everything back?

Eventually their laughter subsided, and Trunks broke eye contact with her as he said, "Come on, Marron, let's hurry up. Bulma probably wants her stuff out of here so she can leave."

Marron let out one last chuckle and stood up before saying, "Right…" She walked over to the other corner of the attic, curiously gazing at a mountain of boxes, and her spirit lighted at the sight of a lonely candle that was poised on a shabby end table. "Hey I found a candle," She said as she gathered a small ball of energy at her fingertip and ignited the tip of the candle wick.

"Awesome," She heard Trunks murmur behind her and felt half disappointed when the glow from his Super Saiyan transformation faded away. In the dim light, she was able to recognize Capsule Corp.'s logo amongst several of the boxes in the three enormous piles of boxes that surrounded her. "Hey, I found several here…" She murmured while she fingered the rough, dusty surface of one of the boxes. With some effort she began shifting the weight of the boxes around and in her moment of distraction, Marron moved around the wrong box, altering the balance of the pile, and within seconds the mountain of boxes began to crumble down, on top of her.

The gasp she let out was audible, and she braced her lithe form to receive the full impact of the boxes when suddenly someone grasped her forearm, turning her around and swiftly pulling her back and away from the collapsing boxes. Trunks brought her body against his protectively as they were both trapped between the wall and the messy pile of boxes. Her heart raced as their faces were merely inches from each other, and something about the concerned expression on his beautiful eyes drew her in. Seconds turned into an eternity as they were so very close to each other, his natural body heat holding her body guiltily prisoner, and for the slightest moment Marron seemed to lose her senses and forget everything that happened to her; forget where she was; forget who the youth that stood before her was. Subconsciously her body closed in on the distance between them and, almost as if on their own accord, her lips planted themselves onto his.

Their kiss was tentative, and her heart beat hard against her chest as their lips pressed together in some sort of reassuring comfort. The silence was broken by the slight shifting of a box nearby and Marron felt his calloused hand squeeze her forearm, as if he was about to push her away. Something snapped in her head and she immediately realized her crime. She stepped away from him, her breathing labored, and her gaze lingered on his pretty blue eyes, almost apologetically. She instantly felt ashamed and without a last word she stepped back. With some difficulty she freed herself from the treacherous boxes, almost in a rush to get out of his presence.

The last thing she saw before escaping the attic was his confused expression, and her eyes watered as she realized she had committed a terrible mistake.

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**_Dragon Ball Z, and it's characters, do not belong to me. This was made for leisure and nonprofit purposes only._**


	5. A Kame House Sunrise

**Visit my profile for the official artwork of** _**Mirai Marron**_**!**  
Remember to review your opinion! Love y'all.

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**_A Kame House Sunrise_**

Marron rushed out of the house in a flurry, and once she was outside she powered up and flew away, leaving a flustered Bulma at her wake. Hot tears trailed out of her eyes and were blown away from her face as she rapidly flew farther and farther away from her former home. Within minutes Kame House wasn't even visible from her position in the sky anymore. Marron stopped her fleeing form and she sobbed. She just couldn't believe herself; her heart had subconsciously confused her beloved. The Trunks in this timeline was not the same Trunks she had learned to love, or was he? Of course, they were identical, for they were the same exact person, but her dilemma stood in her knowing the fact that _this_ Trunks hadn't shared the same memories with her, or shared the same feelings, as a matter of fact.

What made her the angriest, however, was the fact that _she_ had kissed him. She had forced herself onto his lips, and not the other way around. But her heart ached with the realization that he hadn't pushed her off him right away—he had actually kissed her back. That surely meant nothing, of course. He was a boy and boys had such tendencies sometimes, this she knew, so she was not about to get herself worked up over it. Marron sighed as she rubbed the tears off her stained face, maybe her previous actions just meant that she wasn't even close to being over Trunks, which was understandable. She hiccupped several times as she looked back, in the direction of Kame House, pondering whether or not she should come back anytime soon.

After a few minutes of idly staring at the sea below her, Marron finally made up her mind, and so she slowly began to float back, until after a long while she was able to spot the small island where Kame House stood in the horizon. She bit her lip and decided that she now had to explain to Trunks about her engagement to his future persona, and hopefully he would be able to understand and not hate her for kissing him. But now was not the time. Marron quietly floated back towards the island, noticing the absence of Bulma's ship, and concluded that Trunks must have finished loading the boxes alone. She made a silent detour and simply settled with creeping back into the house through her bedroom window, as to avoid curious glances, but most importantly, to avoid Trunks for now.

Marron crawled inside her bed sheets, covering herself from head to toe. She closed her eyes and remembered her Trunks and the life she once had, crying herself to sleep.

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The man with the lavender hair rushed to her, kneeling beside her under the spotlight. She recognized his familiar features; his beautiful, optimistic blue eyes, the small scar he had right beside his left eye, and his charming crooked smile. When she detailed him further, though, she noticed that his clothes were different; he wasn't wearing his usual polo shirt and jeans, instead he wore the clothes of a warrior she had just met... "Marron, I'm with you," her eyes widened when she noticed the different intonation in his voice, and his smile morphed into that tired smile of the warrior from the past. Her eyes widened in confusion, why couldn't she tell him apart from the Mirai Trunks from their past?

Marron stood up and back away from him as the man before her reflected back and forth her Trunks and the Mirai Trunks. He tilted his head with a knowing smirk and approached her, but Marron backed away in horror, until she reached the edge of the stage they had been standing on, losing her balance and falling—falling on and on into oblivion.

Her body jerked up into a sitting position as she woke with a start. Marron breathed heavily and almost immediately had to cover her eyes, which hurt from having crying so much the night before. Eventually her mind cleared and Marron realized she had been dreaming. She tried to remember what had happened in the dream with all her might, but the memory was quickly leaking out of her mind, until everything was foggy and she could no longer remember that she had dreamed about the two Trunks.

She gazed out through the opened window shutters and noted that it was somewhat dark outside still, so she concluded she must have awoken in the wee hours of dawn. Nevertheless that didn't stop her from getting out of bed, as she was intent on catching the sunrise from the porch of the house. Marron covered herself with a bathrobe she had brought in her capsule wardrobe and left her room, tip-toeing past the hallway and down the stairs. The young woman stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Trunks sleeping soundly on the living room couch, and had to stop the temptation to fix his cover sheet that had begun to slowly pool down the couch and onto the floor. She nearly held her breath as she quietly walked past him, and almost cursed aloud when the front door creaked loudly as she tentatively began to open it.

Hoping to the heavens that she hadn't woken the half-Saiyan on the couch, Marron was finally able to retreat onto the sandy porch, and the air was caught in her throat at the sight before her. Marron walked closer to the beach ahead of her, her eyes fixed on the many hues reflected upon the crystal-clear water. She couldn't believe she had forgotten just how beautiful the rising of the sun looked outside of her former home. A smile crept onto her features as she sat before the sandy shore, admiring the view, and her heart swelled as she listened to the gentle sound of the waves and the whistling of the morning breeze. It wasn't long, however, before she felt the presence of someone else slowly approaching her. Marron restrained herself from turning to see who was coming closer, almost afraid that it might be Trunks, and simply tried to maintain her gaze ahead of her, silently welcoming the visitor.

The person finally sat right beside her, and eventually her eyes trailed to meet a pair of familiar blue eyes. Again the air seemed to get caught in her throat at the sight of Trunks' handsome features, only this time he wasn't wearing his signature outfit and instead he simply wore the long shorts he had been sleeping on and his nude chest was barely covered by a small towel that was hanging around his neck. His usually stoic, tired expression warmed up to her and he offered her a small smile. "Beautiful, isn't it? The sunrise?" He asked her, and she simply nodded, not quite sure of what to say. "I've never seen it from here before."

Marron peeled her eyes from his and turned to look at the rising sun, which was now adorning the sky with blue and violet and orange lights. "I grew up in this house, and when I was younger I always tried to catch the sunrise, but as I grew older I began to take it for granted…"

"It's understandable, since you were so used to it."

Marron listened intently to him, noting the slight difference between his inflection and that of her memory of her Trunks, until finally the pressing silence followed. She swallowed, a hard lump settling on her stomach, and she finally said, "Trunks, I'm sorry for kissing you last night." She could feel his gaze on her, but decided against meeting it with her own and continued, "The truth is that I was confused. I never told anyone here this but, Trunks—the Trunks from my timeline—and I were engaged to marry." There, she'd said it.

The young woman then turned her eyes—eyes that were beginning to burn with tears—and finally met his gaze. He was slightly shocked, but he didn't word anything, waiting for her to continue. "I honestly didn't imagine how much it would hurt to see you, right after watching my Trunks die," her gaze on him was resilient, as if she wasn't afraid of the tears that were now threatening to spill out.

The hand he placed on top of hers took her by surprise, but she was able to take a deep breath and clear her sight. "It won't happen again, I promise," she finally finished and turned her eyes to the sea, the sun was now reflecting brightly on top of the sparkling waters. They remained quiet for many long minutes, in each other's silent comfort as they watched the idle rocking of the waves

Trunks finally broke their silence, saying, "I knew there was something…" He withdrew his hand to scratch the back of his messy hair and Marron's heart melted like chocolate, secretly hoping that he would hold her longer. "I've never been looked at by a woman like the way you sometimes looked at me," he chuckled and Marron kept her face away from his, to hide her blush. "Wow, engaged…" Trunks said, almost immediately pausing. "How old was he when he died?"

"Twenty-three," the young woman answered then noted how he looked much younger than the Trunks in her timeline and, without being able to stop herself and out of curiosity, she asked, "How old are _you_?"

She could tell he was trying to ignore the smirk on her lips before he answered, "I'm seventeen."

Marron couldn't stop the light laughter that escaped her lips, "Wow, you're so young…" She had to stop herself from reaching over and caressing his face. There was a pause then, with sadness in her eyes, she said, "But you look so worn out…"

His eyes, which now also reflected the light from the rising sun, hardened at her words and Marron immediately realized that his tired expression was the direct consequence of the suffering in his life. Before she could pry even more into his life, it seemed, he asked as he looked away, "Well, how old are you?"

Her pretty smile went to waste, as he didn't bother to spare her a glance, and she answered, "I'm nineteen—Trunks was four years my senior—"

At this Trunks' eyes met her in surprise, "You were going to marry him so young?"

The young woman huffed impatiently, unable to break eye contact, and replied, "We weren't going to marry _right away_, sheesh. Trust me, we got enough lectures from everyone…" Her voice trailed, as she was not in the mood to receive anymore disapproving words about her engagement. Then almost despite of herself she snorted; what engagement? Her Trunks was dead. "Never mind," she finished blandly and knew that Trunks was also thinking the same as her.

Her curiosity shifted as she thought of his timeline; if she didn't exist in his future then he surely had someone else as his significant other, right? "What about you? Have you found your 'half-orange'?" Marron cautiously asked him, afraid that his other half might have had the same fate as hers.

He chuckled derisively despite of himself then answered, "In a world terrified by the androids there was little time to think about girlfriends. So no, I didn't have anybody."

"Oh…" Marron almost regretted prying into forbidden territory.

He, however, offered her a gentle smile and tried to lift the thickened atmosphere by saying, "Tell me about your timeline."

Her face lightened at the proposition of sharing the good old times with him, but before she could answer they heard the pitter patter of feet approaching them and they turned to see Krillin lazily walking closer to them. "There you guys are… Chi-Chi wants to know if you guys are down for an early breakfast," he yawned loudly, ignoring the beautiful sunrise.

"I didn't know you were the type to wake up early, Krillin," Trunks laughed as he stood up, dusting himself off.

Krillin snorted before saying, "Chi-Chi's all fussing and saying how she always makes breakfast early in the morning and blah—blah—blah. Meh, at least this is better than anything Master Roshi will ever make." Then he turned around, not really bothering to see if Trunks and Marron were planning on following him or not.

Marron quickly joined Trunks as he headed after Krillin back into the house. The deliciously strong smell of pancakes and sausages greeted them once they stepped inside the house and Marron couldn't stop her stomach from roaring in response, after all she hadn't had dinner the night before. They walked in to the kitchen and she quickly sat next to Krillin, before the small, round kitchen table ran out of available chairs, Trunks following right after her. Predictably, Gohan was already sitting down across from her, waiting patiently in front of his plate with his hands holding a fork and a knife. Yamcha sat, half asleep, in between Gohan and Krillin, and Chi-Chi stood on the other side of the kitchen, by the stove, as she fussed with the scrambled eggs.

"Morning guys," Gohan smiled at them, nudging Yamcha before he could fall asleep on top of his empty plate.

"Hey kiddo," Marron winked at him, her mood now considerably lightening.

"Where's Master Roshi?" Trunks asked as he looked around the kitchen.

Chi-Chi approached them, set a stack of pancakes and sausages on the table, and huffed, "Like Yamcha here, he's incapable of waking up early like a decent person." She then turned back to her eggs with her nose held up high in annoyance.

"Mom this looks awesome!" Gohan didn't hesitate before claiming several pancakes and sausages for his own, like the typical Saiyan he was. The rest soon followed, and there was a haste to take the pancakes into their plates before either Gohan or Trunks left them without anything to eat. Chi-Chi, however, being used to living in the same roof as two hungry Saiyans, seemed to foresee this, for she soon had set yet another stack of the delicious breakfast on the table along with the scrambled eggs. And finally she sat on the last empty chair between Gohan and Trunks, joining them in the early-morning breakfast.

"Hmm Chi-Chi this is brilliant. My mom seldom had time to make me breakfast like this," Trunks exclaimed with food in his mouth as he nearly devoured his meal.

"Swallow before talking, young man!" Chi-Chi tried to ignore the compliment, but her blush did not go unnoticed.

"Does mom cook as well as she does now in the future, Marron?" Gohan asked.

The question addressed to her caught Marron by surprise. She looked up from her plate and smiled as she replied, "Oh yes. Every time me and Trunks slept over at Goten's place Mrs. Son never failed to deliver amazing meals."

"Goten?" Chi-Chi was quick and noticed the slip of her tongue.

Marron quickly covered her mouth and looked at Chi-Chi apologetically, what was she supposed to say now? "Uh… someone that lives in your house?" If her calculations were correct Goten was soon to be conceived. At this thought she blushed.

"Someone that lives in my house?" For a moment Marron was sure Chi-Chi would press on, but the finicky woman soon smiled as if in realization, and then directed her attention back to her plate.

"So Marron, tell us about the future. I mean, I know you can't tell us everything but I'm a little curious…" Krillin said as he leaned back in his chair, now that he was done eating.

She smiled at his youthful appearance and said, "Well, before Guerra, everything was almost perfect. Gohan studies so much that he becomes a doctor…" At this Chi-Chi giggled in delight; her life-long dream had come true. "Krillin and his wife open a training dojo in one of the islands nearby, and they train a bunch of little punks in the martial arts. Tien sometimes goes and helps out, the older kids prefer him cause he's tough on them."

"Who's Krillin's wife?" Gohan casually asked.

"Not telling," responded Marron with a sing-song tone. "Yamcha never really retires, and he tours the world from one martial arts tournament to the other, making a living out of the price money. As for myself, I'm part of the West City Ballet Company—"

"You're a ballet dancer?" Trunks interrupted her, curiosity clearly present in his voice. The ringing of a phone in the living room caught their attentions for a split second, but it was ignored as they returned to their food and to the conversation at hand.

"Yup. I usually lead in productions like _Beauty and the Beast_ and _Marie Antoinette_," she answered with a smile, deep down feeling proud that she had somehow amazed him.

"But I can tell you're also a fighter. How do you manage both?" Krillin beat everyone else in asking.

"Well when I fight I'm mostly about being speedy and nimble, since my strength can never compare to these Saiyans," Marron laughed and lightly punched Trunks' shoulder before continuing, "So I never really bothered in being _strong_. Training with my parents helped me a lot in flexibility, which was why I gave dancing a try, and as it turns out, I love it."

Chi-Chi puffed condescendingly and was quick to contribute, "dancing is only nice when you're young, but when you get old you will get shunned—" she was, however, interrupted by the ringing of the phone from the living room once again. "Seriously, who is calling so early in the morning?" The older woman exclaimed in irritation.

Krillin rose from his seat and joked, "I thought you were a morning person, Chi-Chi." He quickly jogged to the living room and upon reading the Caller ID he said aloud, "It's from Capsule Corp.…" Then he answered and almost had to hold the phone at arm's length, for they could easily hear Bulma screeching from the other side of the receiver. Krillin grumbled sheepishly and set the phone on speaker.

"Why aren't you answering the phone, for Kami's sake?" Bulma was screaming at the whole living room and kitchen.

"Uh sorry Bulma, we were having breakfast—"

"Well never mind that! Are Trunks and Marron around?" She snapped in vexation.

"Yeah, you're on speaker, mom," Trunks also left the kitchen table and approached the phone, to Krillin's aid.

"Ok so a few days ago we received a call from a farmer about a strange-looking ship out in the west, and so I finally sent some employees down there yesterday to check out the machine…"

"Yeah?" Marron also stood from her sitting position as Chi-Chi began gathering the dirtied plates and taking them to the sink.

"When they got there they realized the ship had Capsule Corp.'s logo, but they weren't able to figure out how to start it, so they sent me a picture and I just saw it this morning. When I saw it… I was floored…" She did a theatrical pause, making them wait in anticipation. "Guys… this ship looks just like your time machine, Trunks. And it probably looks just like yours, too, Marron."

Marron and Trunks then exchanged glances in mutual confusion, another time machine, and here in this timeline?

* * *

**_Dragon Ball Z, and it's characters, do not belong to me. This was made for leisure and nonprofit purposes only._**


	6. Just See, Don't Slip

**Visit my profile for the official artwork of** _**Mirai Marron**_**!**  
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_**Just See, Don't Slip**_

Following their phone conversation, Bulma had given the two time travelers the exact coordinates of the site at which the new time machine was located, and she had quickly prompted Trunks and Marron to leave Kame House to investigate. What had once been a cheery atmosphere was soon replaced by a tense air about the living room and suddenly everyone remembered that Goku was running out of time and that there was group of psychotic androids after him. Chi-Chi and Gohan busied themselves with cleaning up the kitchen, while Yamcha disappeared somewhere upstairs, and Trunks, Krillin, and Marron were left alone in the living room of Kame House to make decisions and figure out the unexpected change of events.

More than once Marron found herself being interrogated by either Krillin or Trunks, to see if she already knew about this third time machine, but her answer was always the same; she just didn't remember. They lingered in the living room for a few short moments until Marron wordlessly made her way upstairs; her mind set on changing clothes so that she could be ready to depart. As she stripped to her underwear Marron felt slightly annoyed that she couldn't present them with an answer, but her mind momentarily wondered if they were expecting her to know everything that was going to happen now, and in turn expect her to warn them of everything beforehand. She just hoped that wasn't the case.

The young woman inconspicuously slipped down the stairs, noticing that Krillin also seemed to be ready to go. The slight blush on her father's cheeks did not go unnoticed as he explained that he had decided to accompany them to investigate, but Marron knew better, and she had a lingering feeling that he only came in hopes that he might run into #18 once more. Such musings filled her with happiness for him and her mom and she wished she could relive those feelings of anticipation and uncertainty over a crush. Again, Marron couldn't stop herself from stealing a couple glances in Trunks direction, longing feeling up her heart, only this time she was careful not to get caught.

Few words were exchanged as they left Kame House in haste, floating up in the air and taking off at full speed. Marron allowed Trunks and Krillin to lead the way, slightly lagging behind them in hopes to ignore their conversation so that she could somehow rack her brain and figure out to whom this third time machine belonged. For a while everything seemed blank and unrelated, until she remembered that her dad once told her that her mom had been absorbed by someone—that by absorbing her mom that person would achieve a goal… and as if with a train of thought Marron quickly put two and two together and she finally remembered. _It was Cell_.

Elated by her realization, she sped up and poised herself in-between Trunks and Krillin, first turning her attention to the lavender-haired youth, and said, "I know who the time machine belongs to…"

Her words were not lost within the buffeting wind and Trunks' surprise was apparent, as his flying speed faltered for the slightest moment. "You know who it belongs to?" At first he was skeptical of her words, but he nevertheless listened to her carefully.

Marron then raised her voice so that Krillin could also hear her, "Yeah. I remember now. My parents told me about the villain Cell, and how he traveled from your timeline to this one in hopes of absorbing Androids #17 and #18."

"So Trunks knows who this person Cell is?" Krillin inquired.

"I don't know of a Cell—"

"No. I don't think you knew who Cell was, but he was created by Dr. Gero as the ultimate fighter, and in order to complete his transformation he had to absorb #17 and #18… it's all very fuzzy, I don't remember all the details," Her voice shook in disappointment, but she knew she was about to get her questions answered as soon as they caught up with Bulma and found Cell with the new time machine. Now that she remembered Cell though, she couldn't help having an internal debate about his situation; should she allow Cell to absorb her mother and become complete, like it had actually happened in her timeline? Or should she put an end to it all from the very beginning? Would her interference cause everything to change too much? Her musings, however, were interrupted by the roaring of an engine nearby.

"It's Bulma," Krillin spotted and pointed at Bulma's flying Capsule Corp. vehicle as they changed their flying course towards it, allowing Bulma's ship to lead the way. The blue-haired scientist also saw them through the cockpit of her machine, offering them a smile and a wave.

"If this Cell person wanted to absorb the androids then why didn't he just do it in my timeline… it would have surely saved us a lot of trouble," Trunks couldn't help mumbling to himself reproachfully, clearly not understanding the extent and severity of Cell's powers in his Ultimate Form.

Marron shook her head, inwardly understanding how Trunks was feeling, but simply replied just as they followed Bulma's ship descent onto solid ground, "Like I said, I don't remember everything." She huffed in annoyance at them; recalling the chain of events would have probably been easier if she had been present during the whole Cell ordeal, but she hadn't even been born back then…

One by one they began to neatly land on the grass ground of a forest clearing, Bulma's ship landing a short way behind them. The three warriors didn't have to search for long though, for ahead they could easily spot a familiar egg-shaped Capsule Corp. ship that was hidden amongst a thicket. They stood there, watching the mysterious machine apprehensively from a distance, until Bulma finally approached them, breaking the tense silence, "Yeah, this is the one." She withdrew a picture from her bag, passing it around so they could also have a look.

There was no doubt about it, this time machine was identical to the one Marron had used, which didn't make sense at all, since as far as she was concerned it had become a wreck after the crash-land. Marron rummaged in her pockets and took out a small capsule, summoning the heap of metal that was her former time machine. "Well it doesn't seem to be mine at least," she announced lamely.

Trunks followed her lead and also summoned his time machine from a capsule, saying, "And it's definitely not mine either."

"Then who's is it?" Krillin said, following Trunks as he made his way closer to the time machine.

A smirk found its way onto the half-Saiyan's lips once he approached the machine, "Well then let's find out."

Their curiosity annoyed her, and Marron shifted her weight from one leg to another and sighed with impatience, more worried that Cell might be around watching them and waiting to attack than concerned about the not-so-mysterious-anymore time machine. She watched them in exasperation as Trunks expertly activated the door, while Krillin inspected in awe the time machine's intricate design, her gaze often shifting from them back to Bulma. Bulma, on the other hand, seemed to be keeping her distance from the time machine, almost as if she was too deep in thought to join them in their 'investigation.'

"I already told you guys, it's probably—" Marron was beginning to express her irritation when she was suddenly forced to pause. Alerted, her inner warrior awoke in response to a strong ki spike coming from the forest thicket to their right, not too far away from them. Her blue eyes then shifted to Trunks and Krillin, noticing that they had also been alerted by the foreign presence and now stood frozen to their heels.

Their surprise was short lived however, as a sudden energy beam came blasting through the trees in their direction. Almost instinctively, Krillin and Marron leapt away from the attack while Trunks rushed in to Bulma's aid, snatching her away to safety. The explosion blasted a small crater on the ground right where they had been standing and amidst the smoke and the debris Marron could easily sense the ki's of two fighters that had emerged from within the thicket.

For a moment they remained quiet, the only sound in the clearing now being Bulma's fit of coughs caused by the dust in the air. The atmosphere around them was tense as they waited for the cloud of dust and smoke to settle, and with a mounting feeling of apprehension Marron took a fighting stance, not quite sure if she was ready to battle whoever had attacked them. Eventually Bulma's coughing began to subside, and as the cloud of dust started to settle, Marron was able to spot two short figures slowly approaching them. She noted how the person on the right had a considerably higher power level than the person on the left, and as they walked closer her eyes locked with a pair of blue eyes that seemed _very_ familiar to her. The cloud of smoke finally cleared and almost immediately Marron's body tensed in apprehension at the sight of the two children that now stood before them.

The boy on the right appeared to be no older than ten and as he walked closer the smug smirk on his lips and the condescending glare on his familiar blue eyes became apparent. What captive Marron's attention the most, however, was his spiky, blond hair and the simian tail that trailed right behind him; she had seen this before, _he was a Super Saiyan._ Next to him walked a girl that shared his brilliant blue eyes, the same tail, and appeared to be his same age. The girl suddenly stopped dead in her tracks as realization dawned on her face, and her pretty, blue eyes widened in sheer surprise at the sight of Bulma, Krillin, Trunks, and Marron.

"Well, well, well… see C-chan, I told you we were having trespassers around our time machine," the boy sneered right before she took grasp of his forearm warningly, as if she knew that he hadn't quite reached the same realization as her.

"What the hell? You punks!" Bulma was the first to break their stunned silence. She forcefully made Trunks release the grip he had on her arm as she marched up to them, seemingly unfazed by their attack now that she realized that they were _just kids._

"Mom—" Trunks tried to take hold of her hand in hopes of stopping her, failing miserably.

"Oh my God." The girl's shrilly voice took them by surprise and Marron could swear she saw recognition flash right through her eyes.

"Oh—snap," the Super Saiyan boy finally reached the same realization, stopping dead in his tracks, and something about the way his shoulders slumped forward told them he was regretting his previous outburst.

The girl seemed transfixed with Marron as she nearly skipped her way closer to them, her shoulder-length lavender hair bouncing along with every step she took. "Who are you?" Was all Marron could utter.

"C-chan… Grandma never told us mo—Marron would be in this timeline," the boy murmured right before his Super Saiyan transformation faded away, his spiky, blond hair changing to slightly tamer short, lavender locks.

"Hi…" the girl worded in amazement.

For a moment everyone in the forest clearing remained breathless, as if absorbing the startling change of events, until finally Krillin broke the thick silence in a bout of exasperation, blurting, "OK! Can someone tell me what's going on?" Everyone's gaze settled on him for a lingering moment, almost unable to word a reply. Bulma, however, seemed to be the first to regain her demeanor.

"Hold on. Are you two from the future, too? Is that your time machine?" Bulma's farfetched conclusion did not go unnoticed, as everyone's gazes settled on her while they digested that small bit of information. Surprisingly, after Marron really thought about it, Bulma's conclusion didn't seem so farfetched after all…

The boy chuckled as he approached them and with a friendly smile he replied, "Yeah… that's exactly it. I'm Slip, and that's my twin sister, Castanea." He extended his arm up to Trunks, who was nearest to him.

"Slip and Castanea, huh?" Trunks eased his mannerisms towards the boy that had moments ago attacked them, returning the handshake.

The lavender-haired girl tilted her head to the side and said with a warm smile, "Well you can call me C; everyone does."

"Oh wow… well I'm Bulma and that's—"

"Bulma, Trunks, and Marron, yeah—we know. We're from the future," Slip interrupted her, a smirk settling on his boyish countenance. "But who are you?" the Saiyan boy motioned his head towards Krillin.

"What—I'm Krillin—"

"Wait, you're from the future and you don't know who Krillin is?" Marron asked with skepticism. Why did these kids from the future know who she was but not who her father was? Unless…

"Yeah, we know who Krillin is!" Slip quickly corrected himself, "We're just lacking on the photograph department, so we don't quite remember how he used to look…" The boy scratched the back of his hair apologetically.

"So, who are you parents?" Bulma asked in a sing-song voice, grinning from ear to ear. The fact that Slip was a Super Saiyan and that they both had simian tails only meant that they were directly related to either Goku or Vegeta, and judging by the hair, Bulma knew it to be the latter.

"Oh boy, we were afraid you were going to ask that," Slip grimaced.

"We're not supposed to tell you," C told her with a charming smile.

"Because it can jeopardize your existence—yeah—yeah we know the drill," Marron contributed irritably; she had more important things pressing in her mind that needed to be addressed. "If this is your time machine, then where is Cell's? Does he even come to this timeline anymore? Why did you have to travel back in time? And I really don't remember my parents telling me of two kids from the future traveling to the past…"

For a moment everyone seemed speechless at the indifferent and businesslike tone in her words, until finally Trunks was the first to intervene, "That's the thing Marron, it also happened to me. It seems that the past changes drastically when people travel from other timelines, even when you try your best not to interfere."

The twins, however, seemed to dismiss Trunks' and Marron's concerns as they approached the older fighters in unison. Slip, unfazed by Marron's words, was the first to begin explaining, "But Cell _is_ here!"

"We just came from scouting the woods—" C contributed.

"And we found his time machine not too far from here—" Slip exclaimed.

"You see, we've been searching for him—" C interrupted.

"He's the reason why we traveled to the past!"

"Grandma needs samples of his DNA to make a medicine for our parents—"

"They will die if she doesn't make that medicine—"

"We had no other choice—"

"They're all we have—" Finally their shared explanation quieted down, and they both looked down as sadness overtook their forget-me-not blue eyes.

It was then that Marron felt genuinely sorry for them, and she immediately regretted her previous harsh words. Truth was that she could already tell that they were probably Trunks' children, but the question now was, which Trunks? They came from a different timeline so it was completely possible that she was not part of their lives at all. The fact that they didn't recognize her dad also supported that theory. This made her jealous. Before her mind wandered too much, however, Trunks and Bulma began questioning the children for the whereabouts of Cell's time machine, and they soon started making their way into the forest, the twins leading the way.

As it turned out, Bulma's employees missed Cell's time machine by merely meters and in no time at all the group reached a small crater in the middle of the forest that had obviously been created by Cell's landing. The twins leapt down the crater with ease and entered the egg-shaped machine through a hole that had been blasted through the glassed roof. C beckoned the adults to come nearer as Slip began messing around with the ship's control panel. "When we got here the time machine was empty, so there was nothing we could do," C explained as she helped Marron inside the machine.

"It says here that it traveled from age 796," Slip murmured to the older fighters, in hopes that they could contribute some insight regarding the time machine.

"Age 796? That's eleven years further in the future from when I left," Trunks said in shock.

"We came from age 796 as well, but I didn't know Cell existed in our timeline," C contributed with a shrug.

"Yo this is weird…" Krillin breathed out as he looked around the crater with mounting apprehension, "I'm not liking this at all—" his words, however, were ignored as the loud ringing of Bulma's cell phone caught everyone's attention.

The older woman fidgeted in surprise with her pockets as she was initially unable to locate her phone. She then brought up the small cell phone up to her ear and finally answered, "Yeah Bulma Briefs speaking—oh hey—I'm with them yes, why?—what?—where?—no that's impossible—OK… I'll tell them right away—thanks, bye…" Bulma's voice wavered as she said her goodbyes to whoever had been on the phone and her unfocused expression settled on Trunks for several long moments.

"What's wrong, mom?" The lavender-haired youth reached over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder, which she shrugged off.

"Yamcha—that was Yamcha on the phone—he just told me—that's just terrible," For a second Bulma seemed unable to gather a reply as her mind was still racing. She then turned to them and, with a grave look on her face, she breathed, "There—there's been a mass murder in Ginger Town."

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**_Dragon Ball Z, and it's characters, do not belong to me. This was made for leisure and nonprofit purposes only._**


	7. Cell in Ginger Town

**Visit my profile for the official artwork of** _**Mirai Marron**_**!**  
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**_Cell in Ginger Town_**

Bulma rejoiced on the silence that followed, their gazes settled on her as they waited in anticipation for the prodigy scientist to finish her train of thought. Marron's golden locks gently swayed around her as a warm, passerby breeze traveled through the trees, and she looked down in surprise to see C standing unusually close to her, seemingly basking in the comfort of her presence. "What happened?" Marron finally asked, slicing the tense silence, almost afraid of what Bulma might say.

The blue haired woman delivered her a grave look before replying, "There's been a mass disappearance—a mass murder—of people in Ginger Town. The city is deserted, all that's been left behind are their clothes—"

Marron lightly punched the palm of her hand in response, as she was already well aware of what Cell was capable of doing, and announced, "That's Cell. That's what he does—he absorbs people and takes their life energy for himself."

Krillin walked forward, his skin pearly pale and his brows furrowed in concentration, and he asked, "You mean that Cell killed everyone in that town?"

"I hope not…" Bulma whispered looking down, then continued saying, "Either way, you guys have to go there and find out what's going on!"

"Yeah! We're going, too. We need samples of his DNA anyways," Slip exclaimed a little too enthusiastically, consequently receiving a few annoyed glances from the people around him, including his sister.

The stillness of the forest was interrupted as the warriors and the scientist then began to decide on their plans. Bulma swiftly explained that she wanted to take Cell's time machine as a prototype back to Capsule Corp. and Krillin, Marron, Trunks, Slip, and C then decided on immediately heading over the Ginger Town; perhaps it wasn't too late and there were still some civilians to be saved. With a few rushed goodbyes they parted, Trunks and Krillin leading their flight to Ginger Town, and as they flew Marron couldn't stop the mounting feeling of apprehension that settled on the pit of her stomach. Even after knowing the chain of events that happened in her past, why did it feel like everything was now different? Did she really alter the past so much? She just hoped whatever she had accidentally done wouldn't be irreversible.

Her thoughts eventually trailed to the twins that flew behind her, noticing their high spirits as every once in a while they would exchange a joke or sarcastic remark amongst themselves, and she felt immensely curious of their lives and situations. She wondered of the sort of environment they must have been brought up in and almost immediately questions after questions began surfacing in her mind. Why hadn't their Saiyan tails been severed after birth as it was accustomed here in Earth? How was Slip so young and already a Super Saiyan? And why wasn't C also a Super Saiyan as well? Truthfully speaking, though, the question that bothered her the most was, _who_ was their mother? She had been so distracted with her musing, however, that surprise overtook her when the warriors in front of her began to make their descent over the outer city limits of Ginger Town.

At first the group hovered through the city for several long minutes and were left speechless at the stillness of Ginger Town. Bulma hadn't been joking; the city was utterly dead. Every intersection, every shop, every car, was completely deserted. The streets were deathly silent as the warriors began to neatly land one by one on the hard concrete floor. C's and Slip's curiosity got the best of them as they carelessly began to wander deeper into the small city—despite of Marron's futile attempts to stop them. Beside her, Trunks tensed in anticipation as they felt the ki of two warriors they just couldn't recognize not too far from them. Before any of them could make any decisions of scouting the city, however, those same two mysterious warriors unexpectedly brought their fighting closer to them with the explosion of a nearby building. The group watched in shock and recognized Piccolo as the warrior crash-landing merely yards away from the explosion.

Behind the cloud of debris and smoke erupted derisive laughter and, almost instinctively, Slip and C flew back near Trunks, Krillin, and Marron, taking a sort of refuge around the older and more experienced warriors. Krillin rushed to Piccolo's aid, only to be clumsily shoved away by the proud warrior as he began to stand up and retake his fighting stance. His clothes were torn and his face was badly beaten, yet his eyes remained focused ahead towards the center of the smoke, where the outline of a body lurked. Krillin was determined to help Piccolo though, and so he resumed his aid to the fallen warrior.

"Why can't we just make this easier? Why don't you just shut up and sit down so I can absorb you already? You know it will happen eventually whether you like it or not," the derisive voice of the figure walking forward boomed with laughter as the smoke began to clear ahead of them. For the slightest moment the disgusting form that represented Cell stood frozen in surprise at the sight of the new warriors that had joined the scene, but no sooner had he laid eyes on them did he began to recognize each and every one of them. "Well, well, well—if it isn't a family reunion," He said as he stepped dangerously closer to them, his repulsive green tail swaying in a mocking manner behind him.

"It's Cell!" Slip announced, his Super Saiyan transformation following almost automatically after.

"Cell?" Trunks had begun to say, but was cut off by Cell's arrogant remarks.

"Ah… Castanea and Slip, you two have come here as well I see," Cell's eyes lingered hungrily on the two children as he spoke.

"Wait—Cell knows you two?" Marron asked, flabbergasted.

The green creature then turned his attention to her before mockingly saying, "And if it isn't pretty, little, half-droid Marron and goody two shoes Trunks."

"You know me, too?" Marron stepped back in apprehension and glanced back and forth between the twins and Cell, now _certain_ that things in this timeline had taken a completely different turn in events.

"Of course I know you, too, and it's all a swell coincidence that you're in this timeline as well. I guess the universe must be smiling down at me, I think I'll be having more of the androids' powers than I originally intended to," Cell's laughter echoed throughout the empty streets as none of them dared to move a muscle, afraid to upset the deathly silence that had settled in the city. "You see, I came back to this timeline so that I could become complete again—so that I could absorb Androids #17 and #18!"

"Tell us something we _don't_ know," the woman smarted back and rolled her eyes in annoyance, her dislike for Cell growing with every word he uttered.

Something about the way he wasn't fazed by her words told her that he was willing to play mind games with her, and perhaps he was actually plotting something unbeknown to them. Cell chuckled and replied, "Very well, there's no harm in indulging to somebody whose existence is about to end! I am Dr. Gero's master creation—the Ultimate Weapon. My creation took too long for me to be immediately useful to him however, as I had to mature from a larva all the way this, what I am now, and so Dr. Gero left the project on hold to his computer. By the time I had matured and was ready to seek out the androids to absorb them it seemed that they had already been terminated by Trunks, so my only choice was to go back to the future—to this future. The reason why I know you all is because I had to annihilate you and Trunks in order to use your time machine to travel back to this timeline."

An unnatural silence followed his words as the warriors took time to digest what he had said, only to be left even more troubled than they previously had been. Cell, however, never faltered in his explanation, and so he continued, "Defeating you two would have been considerably easier if I had only been able to absorb those two Saiyan monkeys," he directed his condescending glare onto C and Slip and continued, "But alas, as I began to mobilize to make my first move I found out that the runts had already embarked on a journey to the past. What a shame that their journey has now become futile, for I already took the liberty of killing off their parents—and lucky of me that they came back to this exact timeline, adding to my long list of people I'm planning to absorb!"

As if angered by Cell's words, Slip unexpectedly powered up and charged towards Cell, bellowing, "You will do no such thing!"

"Slip, wait!" C exclaimed behind him, also powering up and heading in to help her brother.

C lingered in the sidelines as Slip put up an admirable fight against Cell, blindly delivering kicks and punches of anger, until eventually Cell was able to cut through Slip's inexperienced defenses, giving him a powerful punch on his abdomen that sent him crashing onto the pavement across them. His twin sister, who somehow seemed to have foreseen his defeat, rushed after him to his aid, leaving everyone in a moment of distraction that Cell took advantage of, performing a Taiyo-Ken.

A powerful beam of light overtook the deserted street, immediately blinding all that were caught in its surprise. Marron's sight burned and she was forced to look away as her eyes began to tear up in response to the strong, flashing light. Her instincts perked when she felt a sudden spike in someone's ki, but for a moment this she decided to ignore, as she was currently too overwhelmed and annoyed by the light. Then, in an abrupt mannerism, she felt an arm wrapping around her torso and a second arm taking a firm hold of her neck, threatening to snap it two. "Tell me darling; are you ready to help me become a Complete Form?" Her body shuddered uncontrollably at the words Cell whispered at the crook of her neck, and she instinctively tried to pry him away from her, to no avail.

Marron's heart raced when the tip of Cell's tail, which had now expanded to allow enough space for her body to easily fit, settled on the base of her head, ready to engulf her. She struggled with all her might in a desperate attempt to free herself from his full-body bind, but his grip on her was much too strong. In a second's pause something forceful shook both her and Cell, and she screamed, until suddenly she couldn't feel his slimy tail on her head anymore and Cell let out a sickening yelp. Marron was released from Cell's clutches and she fell forward on her hands and knees, her eyes blinded and her breathing labored. Three—four seconds passed and the Taiyo-Ken faded, and the young woman felt herself being brought up to her feet by Trunks, whom she held for support as she was still in somewhat of a shock. She then let her recovering eyes roam the empty streets, looking for any sign of what had happened, but Cell was nowhere to be seen.

"What was that all about?" Krillin asked as he, too, recovered from Cell's Taiyo-Ken.

"Marron, are you alright?" Trunks' concerned eyes settled on her face, and Marron nodded tentatively in response, not quite sure herself.

"He—he tried to absorb me—how did you know?" Even though she was probably out of harm now that Cell had escaped, Marron didn't want to part away from the short distance between her and Trunks.

"His ki—you let your guard down," Trunks answered as his shifted his gaze away to anywhere but her, a small blush now settling on the base of his nose.

"But how did he escape so quickly?" Despite of the comfort she had discovered in his arms, Marron decided to finally peel her form away from his, turning her attention to Slip, who seemed to still have the air knocked out of him. Next to him knelt C with a concerned expression on her infantile face and, with C's help, Slip was able to get back to his feet again.

Trunks grimaced as he remembered exactly what had happened and replied, "I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty disgusted of his tail—"

"And you let him get away!" Piccolo bellowed after he recovered from the Taiyo-Ken and was standing up straight on the other side of the street. Trunks just set his stare on his boots in shame. "We mustn't let him become complete! If the androids aren't enough of a threat, then he is!" The Demon King walked over to Trunks, looking down on him like a master reprimanding a pupil. "He's hiding his ki—that little vermin, I will go look for him regardless, and this time I won't let my guard down." His black eyes gave the younger warriors one last, disappointed glare before he powered up and flew away, leaving them with a feeling that they had posed an unnecessary intrusion; that they gained absolutely nothing by intervening with his and Cell's fight.

"You stupid—stupid Super Saiyan! What was that all about?" C exclaimed now that Piccolo's tense presence had taken leave, as she felt more at ease to display her displeasure with her brother. She kicked his shin, making him hop on one leg in pain and vexation.

"Hey! Don't do that!"

"Well did you at least get his DNA?"

"Uh…" the lavender-haired boy gave her a look that would have been comical under different circumstances. At this, she kicked his shin again.

Marron observed their bickering and her heart swelled at the defeated expression on C's and Slip's faces when their voices quieted down. She knew all too well that hopeless feeling of reaching a dead end in one's purpose; what Cell had said earlier had absolutely not gone unnoticed—he had killed their parents. Slip's immediate reaction was understandable, as it was mere anger at the careless attitude the green monster took regarding his parents' lives. C's sparkling, tear-struck eyes met her and Marron felt the urge to reach over to them and hug them and whisper reassuring fallacies about their reality.

"So what now?" Krillin's quiet words broke their unspoken apprehension, and they all turned to him, now trying to rationalize their future actions.

"Cell said that Dr. Gero's computer was what ultimately created him, which means that there's probably another unborn Cell in this timeline," Trunks expertly answer his question after putting two and two together. His serious, cerulean blue eyes looked from Marron to Krillin as he continued, "We have to go to Dr. Gero's laboratory and destroy the larva Cell."

"And that might change our future…" Slip's hopeful eyes traveled from C to Marron to Trunks and back to his sister; perhaps Cell's appearance in this timeline didn't mean the end of their mission.

"And while we're at it, we can even get his DNA," a spark seemed to have lit up inside of C as well, her tone considerably lightening. The lavender-haired girl dusted herself off and approached Trunks and Marron, looking up at them expectantly as if waiting for some sort of approval.

Marron promptly nodded, agreeing with the rest, and said, "Alright then, let's go to Dr. Gero's hideout."

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**_Dragon Ball Z, and it's characters, do not belong to me. This was made for leisure and nonprofit purposes only._**


	8. The Calm before the Storm

**Visit my profile for the official artwork of** _**Mirai Marron**_**!**  
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**_The Calm before the Storm_**

Marron lowered the heavy clothes basket she had been carrying down to thigh-level, half-mindedly remembering that she had forgotten to call Trunks and remind him that Chi-Chi was expecting everyone for dinner, as usual. God forbid if someone decided to skip out on the fiery woman's dinners; it was better to altogether avoid conflict in the already-volatile house, than have her go off on them for disregarding her meals. The blond-woman clicked her tongue in annoyance, quickly setting the damp laundry down on the few patches of grass in Kame Island, and sped inside the house, her goal the telephone in the living room.

After the Cell incident back at Ginger Town, and after Trunks, Marron, and Krillin had succeeded in destroying Dr. Gero's lab and Slip and C had been satisfied with their small sample of Cell's DNA, the warriors then turned their sights on locating Cell. Finding the shrewd monster became a number one priority the moment Marron illustrated just how empowered he was capable of becoming if he ever succeeded in absorbing Androids #17 and #18—not to mention the personal motives that she just couldn't stand the idea of letting her mom be absorbed by such a creature. Locating Cell, however, proved to be harder than they had expected. Their futile search left them defeated and demoralized, with no other choice but to return back to Kame House to regroup and strategize their scouting tactics.

On her way to the phone Marron noted just how quiet the living room seemed, which was a rarity now that Kame House lodged eight visitors, a feat of its own if the house's size was taken into consideration. Her blue eyes settled on Slip's sleeping form on the couch, making a mental note to later wake him up and make him help out with chores around the house. She leaned her body on the living room counter, half-mindedly twirling a strand of her golden hair with one hand as she dialed Trunks' cell phone number with the other. She pressed the receiver up to her ear and her heart lightened in bliss when she heard Trunks' voice on the other side of the line, "Hello?"

"Hey Trunks, I'm just calling to remind you that Chi-Chi's expecting you guys for dinner, so make sure you're not late or she'll go off on everyone," she smiled sheepishly, her eyes on the ceiling as she listened intently to his reply.

Trunks chuckled and said, "Don't worry Marron, me and Krillin are almost done here, then we'll head back."

"Roger that."

"Alright, talk to you later then…" his voice became weaker, as if he himself wasn't really sure if he wanted to let go of the conversation.

"Bye…" Marron whispered back, closing her eyes in some sort of mental restraint before hanging up the phone.

For the past week Krillin, Trunks, Piccolo, and Yamcha had busied themselves going off to different regions and cities of the country in their search for Cell, each taking turns from city to city, while Marron, Slip, C, and Gohan remained behind protecting Goku and Kame House in the eventuality that, in turn, the androids managed to find them. Locating Cell, however, was becoming more troubling than they had originally predicted. Every once in a while the news would report one or two mysterious disappearances that seemed to follow no clear pattern between neighboring cities, and the Z Fighters were _sure_ that they were directly related to Cell, but the creature was smart enough to not leave any important trails, making their jobs considerably more difficult.

Five days had gone by without a sign from either Cell or the androids. What were the androids planning? As long as Cell kept his green clutches away from them, no one really bothered to care. Everyone in Kame House was very well aware though, that Cell was slowly becoming stronger and stronger with every person he absorbed. This made him the priority.

Marron sighed as she leaned on the countertop, the sun's rays filtering through the opened windowpanes and basking her golden locks with pure sunshine. Her mind trailed at the thought of Trunks and she wondered if she was perhaps crushing on him, or if her small infatuation was just the lingering love she felt for the Trunks she had lost. The soft pitter patter of feet on the wooden staircase captured her attention and her eyes lit up at the sight of Goku gingerly making his way down the stairs. "How are you feeling, Goku?" The young woman asked, noting the admirable recuperation Goku had gone through.

He scratched the back of his head once he reached the final step and answered, "Pretty hungry. It smells kinda good, you guys had anything good to eat yet?" His voice trailed as he began making his way into the kitchen.

Marron smiled at his retreating form and imagined the immense letdown he would feel when he realized that Chi-Chi had just begun making dinner, and wouldn't be done for a while. Chi-Chi's excited screech exploded from the kitchen and Marron concluded that Chi-Chi must have seen Goku entering her haven, healthy and rejuvenated. The young woman decided to leave them to their devices and instead walked over to Slip, nudging him agitatedly on the shoulder. "Hmm… no, not peanut butter please…" The young boy began to murmur in response to her interference. "No mom, not peanut butter!" He yelped before sitting up in a sudden mannerism, obviously startled. "Marron," he gave her a glare once his sight cleared and he had realized his disposition.

"I thought Chi-Chi told you to help Gohan wash the restrooms…" Marron told him in a matter-of-fact tone, her legs taking her back to the front door.

"Yeah but I'm so lazyyyy," Slip whined from his position on the couch.

"Go help Gohan!" Marron ordered him before she left the house, getting back to her afternoon chores. Out of all of them, Slip and Yamcha had been the two least helpful when it came to helping around the house; Yamcha using the blatant excuse that he was too _worn out_ from his search for Cell to help out, and Slip often took to sneaking naps whenever there was no one around. Marron yawned loudly as she spotted Master Roshi sunbathing on the beach shore without a care in the world, and decided that she, too, could use an afternoon nap just now.

Without further ado, Marron busied herself hanging up the damp laundry, her mind set on the prospects of joining Master Roshi, and just as she about done a strong gust of wind rattled the palm trees around her, signaling the arrival of her fellow warriors. Krillin tried to land close to her, only managing to get himself clumsily tangled on one of the hangers, but thankfully Trunks' help was immediate and the damp clothes were quickly saved from a sand-filled fate. "Smooth, real smooth," Marron delivered Krillin a glare, annoyed that he almost ruined her hard work on the laundry.

"Heh—sorry Marron; did not mean to do that…" Krillin scratched the back of his head and followed Marron and Trunks back into the house.

"Any news about Cell?" The young woman asked them, a careless air about her as she guessed that their search was as futile as all others.

"He seems to be hiding in the cities, but we decided not to worry about what the news say anymore about disappearances; they're all somehow outdated on Cell's current location—" Trunks began explaining, their tracks coming to a sudden halt as they sensed a strong ki rapidly approaching the island.

"Piccolo and Yamcha?" Marron asked hopefully, but quickly retracted the idea as she remembered that they had agreed not to be too conspicuous and hide their ki whenever they flew back to Kame House, as to not attract unwanted attention to their chosen hiding place.

"Can't be…" Krillin whispered as he, too, stood paralyzed by the door, trying to identify the incoming ki.

The silence in the living room was broken when C came running from the kitchen, also aware of the new potential threat. "Who's coming?" Her hands were smudged with flour and batter as she had probably stopped midway helping Chi-Chi with the preparation of dinner.

"It's Vegeta!" Krillin announced, relief washing over his countenance. He stretched his hands up in the air and yawned, saying, "I'm gonna go take a shower, you guys can go see what he wants." And with those last words Krillin floated up the stairway and onto the second floor.

"Castanea! I need you!" They all heard Chi-Chi exclaim from the kitchen.

"I'm sick of cooking!" C waved her hands up in the air and marched reproachfully back into the kitchen.

Marron giggled in response, her gaze resting on C's retreating form, and admitted, "Chi-Chi can be a handful."

The lavender-haired young man then walked back out onto the sandy porch, his eyes set on the azure, afternoon sky, "That's curious… he's not exactly flying _here_." Marron's eyes followed the finger he pointed up at the sky and he said, "Look, that's him—"

"He's headed for a neighboring island," she finished for him. Her attention then shifted back inside the house when they heard Slip's loud footsteps coming from the stairways; he seemed to be making as much noise as he possibly could on his way down.

"OK! I'm done with the restrooms, Marron!" Marron met with his fiery irises and something about his countenance reminded her of young Trunks, back when she was also a kid. "Anyone down for some sparring?" Slip asked loud enough that C was able to hear him from the kitchen, that or they could read each other minds, for as soon as he asked, C was also dashing out of the kitchen, intent on using any excuse to get away from Chi-Chi.

"I thought you'd never ask!" C exclaimed, using her brother's presence as an excuse to leave the kitchen. The two twins quickly rushed out of the living room, taking Trunks and Marron for surprise as they nearly ran past them and out onto the sandy porch.

"Now wait a min—" Marron extended her arm out trying to grab a hold of Slip's shirt, missing him by merely centimeters, and in the blink of an eye the two children were flying up in the air and away from Kame Island at full speed. The young woman huffed in impatience, dreading the moment when Chi-Chi realized that C wasn't around anymore to help with dinner.

Trunks must have been thinking the same, for once the twins were out of sight he asked her with a sheepish smile, "Let's go see what dad is up to?"

The young woman nodded, stealing one last glance to the living room before Trunks and her powered up and elevated themselves into the air. They flew after Vegeta's direction, the bustling wind feeling deliciously refreshing on Marron's skin as they did so. They flew in the comfort of each other's presence for a few short minutes until they landed neatly on a rocky cliff by the sea, a little ways away from The Prince of all Saiyans.

A warm, afternoon breeze had taken hold of the rocky cliff the Prince of Saiyans had chosen for his moment of solitude, and below them the ocean trashed and fought with the cliff, occasionally sprinkling the moist rocks below them with heavy droplets of water. Something about the way Vegeta carried himself told them that the proud prince felt highly vexed but was trying his best not to seem so. He immediately became aware of their presence, cursing under his breath as he saw them approach, in response to their intrusion. Trunks was the first to walk nearer to him, Marron trailing right behind him, not feeling very fond of the younger Vegeta in this timeline, and together they walked towards the cliff overlooking the ocean, where Vegeta stood. "Hi Dad…" Trunks greeted him, making sure to keep a comfortable distance between them and the volatile Saiyan.

"Hmph," was Vegeta's simple response. The black-haired man turned his form towards ocean, allowing his untamable locks to sway with the strong, buffeting wind.

"So… what brings you here?" The youth tried to initiate small talk with his usually stoic father, shifting his weight from one leg to the other as he tried to ease the tension.

Marron watched them from the corner of her eyes and once or twice was tempted to take Trunks' hand in hers, as their current disposition reminded her of many other situations from her past. It pained her to have to restrain herself, but she had no other choice, as she had made him a promise not to let her emotions get too carried away with him anymore. It took a while for Vegeta to reply, a silence which Trunks interpreted as his father simply ignoring him, and so the half-Saiyan turned his attention to the blond next to him, blushing once he caught her gaze.

"Your mother—that untamable, lunatic woman—it's infuriating!" He suddenly replied heatedly, his power levels spiking in irritation and taking both youths by surprise.

The Saiyan Prince was about to continue with his rant regarding Bulma when he was cut short by the two blurs of lavender that suddenly flew right between them. Amongst energetic laughter, a pair of twins landed not too far from them, their expressions lighting up at the realization that it was none other than Vegeta standing right before their eyes.

"What in the devil's hell are you two?" Vegeta asked condescendingly, delivering them one of his signature glares.

C gasped in delight, leaning forward and asking, "Are you Vegeta?" The Saiyan man stepped back in disgust at the intrusion of personal space the girl was posing.

"Those 'two' are Slip and C, dad" Trunks chuckled, realizing that Vegeta probably felt flustered by the appearance of the twins.

"Who?"

"Alright! You're _the_ Vegeta, aren't you?" Slip also stepped forward, seemingly incapable of masking the amazement of seeing his grandfather for the first time. In a sudden jolt of excitement, the lavender-haired boy powered up, turned Super Saiyan, and said, "I challenge you to a sparring match!"

Marron was quick to catch the slight surprise that flashed across the Saiyan Prince's face following Slip's transformation, but his short-lived surprise left as fast as it had come, and Vegeta hastily returned to his usual intimidating demeanor. "How in the world are you a Super Saiyan?" He grunted, crossing his arms.

"I'll tell you if we spar!"

"They also come from the future, Vegeta," Marron didn't hesitate before cutting to the chase, not quite sure if she liked the idea of Slip vs. Vegeta.

"What, are you supposed to be my children as well?" Vegeta huffed in annoyance. It was as if the Z Warriors were now unfazed by all the sudden time traveling happening around them; months before such notion would have been ludicrous.

"Not quite…" Trunks replied in an undertone, and with a few stolen glances between him, Trunks, and Marron, the older man was able to put two and two together, his curiosity now satisfied.

"Come on! I haven't had a good sparring match in a while!" Slip levitated himself from the ground, his mannerisms oozing with excitement.

C immediately realized the underlying message in what her brother had said and didn't hesitate before kicking his legs and saying, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Ow—"

"Look punk, I said no, now do me a favor and _piss off_," Vegeta had leaned dangerously close to his future grandson, delivering him an intimidating glare that made the young boy lower himself, setting foot on the solid ground, clearly terrified. "I'm not in the goddamned mood to play with kids who're obviously too young to understand what being a Super Saiyan means," and with those last words the Prince of Saiyans turned on his heels and flew away from the windy cliff side and towards the other end of the island.

"Sheesh, talk about a family reunion," C sighed in defeat once the shock of seeing Vegeta retreat wore down. She glared daggers at her twin brother for being too enthusiastic and roughly took hold of his forearm, saying, "You want a sparring match, don't you? Well come on!" They gave Marron and Trunks friendly smiles before flying off a little ways away, so that they wouldn't be a bother as they sparred.

The young woman smiled at their retreating forms and leapt down, playfully sitting down on the rough rock, allowing her legs to dangle over the cliff. Trunks also followed her lead, his hand brushing hers tentatively as he did so, and he finally exclaimed with a sigh, "What was that all about?"

Marron giggled slightly and told him, "The Trunks in my timeline once told me how Vegeta often flew off in irritation whenever he got pissed at Bulma. I guess they have been arguing?"

"I don't know if that's cute or bad…" Trunks said slowly, his unsure blue eyes meeting with hers before they broke out in laughter. Marron slowly recovered from her fit of laughter, only to notice that Trunks' gaze had resiliently stayed on her. Their blue eyes settled on each other for a long pause until Trunks finally said, "You know I can tell you're Krillin's kid."

Marron's mouth curved into a perfect 'o' as she was caught in surprise at his assertion, "How'd you know…"

Trunks leaned back on his arms and palms, a satisfied smile settling on his handsome features, "The way you laugh… the way you smile… it's just like him." For a moment Marron was speechless, and so she settled with simply basking on the comfort of their silence, until Trunks finally finished saying, "Who woulda thought… Krillin and the android."

"Don't call her that," Marron's brows furrowed as she displayed her displeasure. There was another long pause in which she was captive of his stare, but she eventually finished saying in a much gentler tone, "She's not bad in my timeline… she's the best mom I could ever ask for." Marron decided he didn't deserve to be berated; after all the only memory he held of Android #18 was that of a murderer.

"It's just unexpected…" he laughed.

"Oh please please don't tell anyone!"

The youth let out a mischievous laugh before leaning forward, his hair swaying with the wind and his blue eyes reflecting the sunset in front of them. "Oh I won't just yet… I'll just keep that to myself for whenever I have to blackmail you," Trunks chuckled playfully, receiving a light smack on the shoulder from the girl next to him. They laughed together for a long while, each imagining all the possible situations where Trunks might want to blackmail her, until they ran out of breath and couldn't find anything else to say. For the longest while they remained quiet under the saffron-colored sky, simply content with their current disposition, every once in a while listening to Slip's and C's heated screams and arguments as the children sparred.

Trunks, however, was the first to break their newly found silence, "I know this is kind of random but, when Gohan died I was left without a friend." His words captured her attention and Marron waited patiently for him to continue with his story, "He was my mentor and my best friend. I'd often tell myself that as long as I had him and my mom everything would be alright—that no matter how awful the androids were, at the end, we'd have each other.

"But when they killed him, I wasn't sure what to do with myself anymore; I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue fighting. I sort of felt alone." He paused and gave her one of those sad smiles that made her heart break all over again. Marron leaned forward as well, placing one elbow on her knee and fought the temptation to touch his face with her other hand. Trunks sighed as if he had lost his train of thought until he finally said, "What I'm trying to say is… it's nice to have someone who I can just talk to, you know? It's been a while…"

Marron gave him a loving smile, and instead of caressing his face she simply settled with placing a hand on top of his, her heart swelling with so many emotions. She purposely pushed the tiny voice in her head that was telling her that this wasn't her Trunks—that she shouldn't be letting herself get carried away. "I sort of felt that, when Trunks died. At that point my parents and my fiancé were dead. I felt lost, but I guess I have to thank your mom in my future for making me come here, because now I feel like I have a purpose."

Her heart was racing now, and she was very well aware that he was somehow, slowly but surely, moving closer to her, and that she was also moving closer to him. This time she was conscious of what could happen, yet she didn't want to stop him or herself. Her hand took a firmer grip of his hand and her eyes began to burn, as at that very moment she was beginning to hate herself for the confusing feelings bursting inside her. Marron tried to push the water pooling in her eyes aside as she allowed her eyelids to close. They were now so very close she could feel his breath nearing her lips and—

"—Well you're a stupid monkey-head and I hope you rot in a toilet full of poop!" And suddenly their spell was broken, and they were distracted by the sound of shoes pressing hard on the ground leading to the cliff, and within an instant C had her arms crossed and her lips pouted after finding a seat next to Marron on the cliff side.

Marron and Trunks were both flustered by C's sudden appearance in their moment of intimacy, but remained silent, pretending that nothing had _almost_ happened. Marron's face was burning hot and she inwardly thanked the little Saiyan girl for her intrusion, otherwise she wasn't sure what would have happened… "What's wrong, C?" The blond finally asked, her whispered question almost drowned out by the buffeting wind.

"Slip is such a prick! He keeps teasing me because I'm not a Super Saiyan like him! This isn't something I can just force out!" The lavender-haired girl threw her arms up in the air in sheer annoyance.

Marron just giggled and gave her a few comforting words that she was sure would make the girl feel better, "All boys are pricks so it's alright."

As expected, C burst out in a fit of giggles; her pretty, blue eyes reflecting the dying sun ahead of them. She eyed Marron and Trunks curiously and eventually asked, "So what are you guys up to?"

"Oh nothing—"

"Nah nothing much—"

"Ok…" C smiled knowingly and simply settled on moving her legs back and forth, enjoying the feel of wind against her lavender hair.

For a little while Marron studied the girl's face, not sure where she could pinpoint her resemblance. Her eyes trailed down to the girl's tail, which she was swaying in a rhythmic manner, and finally gathered the courage to ask, "Say C, how come your parents never cut your Saiyan tail off?"

"Huh?"

"Oh yeah, why didn't they? Aren't they worried you'll transform if you gaze out at the moon?" Trunks also contributed.

"Oh… well my blood is so diluted that I have to stare at the full moon for a really long time for anything to happen," she told them and offered them a friendly smile. "Plus grandma installed an application on my watch that tells me the positioning of the moon, so that I don't catch it by surprise. Slip has one as well." She leaned towards the older fighters and showed them a screen showing which direction the moon was located, taking a small dot in the center of the screen as her current position.

"Wicked," Trunks exclaimed.

"Earth is so deserted where we live that it's not such a bad thing if either one of us transforms anyways," the young girl shrugged.

"Why is that?" Marron asked, her ears perking at the mention of a desolate Earth.

"Because of the androids." At this Marron momentarily thought of asking more about her life in her timeline, but decided that she wasn't sure if she wanted an answer just yet. Marron had the fleeting idea that perhaps they were _this_ Trunks' children, that he goes back to his time and finds somebody whom he decides to share his life with. At this thought her blood began to boil in jealousy.

It seemed that Trunks was also not interested in pressing more of the matter either, for instead he asked, "Hey C, how come Slip is a Super Saiyan and you're not?"

Before she could answer, however, they heard Slip's mocking reply behind them as he approached the cliff, "Because C believes in _the_ _power of love_." The boy floated in front of the trio sitting on the cliff, making faces at his twin sister while she stuck her tongue out the moment she spotted him.

"Shut up Slip, go away!"

"Oh yeah? Why don't _you_ go away?"

"Come on guys…" Trunks tried to intervene.

"There's nothing wrong with believing in the power of love…" Marron also tried to ease the tension, but she wasn't too worried, she knew that children had volatile moods and that in no time at all they would go back to being the supportive twins they were with each other. Eventually, just as Marron had predicted, Slip and C grew tired of mocking each other, Slip taking a seat on the other side of Trunks, as far away as possible from his sister.

Ten, fifteen, twenty minutes went by, ahead of them the sun continued fading into the horizon, and Marron felt her thoughts being drowned out by the sound of the wind and the crashing waves below them. Her attention shifted to the girl that had leaned her head and torso against her body, and it was then that Marron came to the realization that the children already had Cell's DNA, that there was no reason for them to continue staying in the past. She pondered the root behind the twins' actions, but decided against asking anything about it, feeling that the choice to go back was theirs only and that by asking she would be posing an intrusion. One thing she was beginning to understand about time traveling though was that it was so easy to get caught up in the past, as it was beginning to happen with her and Trunks.

C shivered next to her in response to a passerby breeze, subconsciously bringing her body slightly closer to Marron as she craved for external heat. This made Marron realize that the girl was already very much attached to her, perhaps a little more than it was normal for only having known each other for a week. And surprisingly, she felt the same way about Slip.

A sudden crack behind them broke their idle silence and they turned in surprise to see none other than Goku standing before them. The older Saiyan had his usual sparing outfit on, his demeanor rejuvenated and alert. "Hey guys! I've got some good news," he chuckled.

Feeling that the time traveler's moment of resting had come to an end, Marron stood from the rocky ground and approached Goku, Trunks and the twins following her lead. "You look a lot better, Goku," she told him. Marron felt Trunks' fingers slightly brushing against her hand as they stepped forward, and her hand took his, almost as an automatic response.

"I feel a lot better too!" He scratched the back of his hair, leaning back as he chuckled. "But yeah, I came by to tell you about the Hyperbolic Time Chamber."

"The what—" Slip asked, a silly, confused look on his boyish features.

"Hyperbolic Time Chamber… it's on Kami's lookout," Goku elaborated.

"Oh yeah, I know about it! Never been in there, though," Marron contributed with a smile, catching Trunks gaze every once in a while.

"Yeah well Mr. Popo's invited us to use it, and since only two people can use it in a day, I was thinking of using it with Gohan and telling Vegeta so that you and him can go in together," Goku directed his gaze at the half-Saiyan.

"Right—"

"Where's Vegeta at? I felt his ki around here."

"He flew off…" C sighed, slumping her shoulders forward.

"Oh I can get to him in a jiffy," Goku laughed, capable of locating Vegeta in an instant with his newly-learnt teleportation technique. "Trunks, you go ahead and fly to Kami's lookout; tomorrow you and Vegeta will be the first to use it."

"Wait! Can we?" Slip immediately jumped in at the opportunity of additional training.

"No, you won't; you and C are coming back with me to Kame House," Marron instructed with a finality that made Slip give in without arguing. The young woman knew the rules governing the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, and decided that Slip or C were simply too young to already use up their time in the chamber.

"Alright… so to get Vegeta…" the Saiyan murmured before bringing a hand up to his forehead and in an instant the air cracked. No matter how many times she had seen him do it, Marron just couldn't get used to Goku materializing and dematerializing right in front of her in the blink of an eye; one moment he was there and the other he was gone, Goku disappeared just as he had come.

Trunks then turned his attention back to her, his usually reserved demeanor taking over him once more. It was then that she again noticed her hand slightly holding his, that this whole time their fingers had been slightly intertwined with each other without them noticing, almost as if it was a natural thing for the both of them to do. "I guess… I have to go now," his beautiful eyes had settled on hers as he stepped away from her, their arms extending as their fingers seemed hesitant to let go. "I'll be back," he breathed and she nodded quickly, her insides filling up with an all too familiar sensation. Finally their fingers broke contact and Trunks quickly turned away from her, hiding the blush that had overtaken his face, and flew off without sparing them a single, final glance.

The trio remained quiet for a few seconds, their eyes following the dot in the sky that was Trunks and finally, once he was out of sight, C teased with a giggle, "Oooooooh!" Slip also joined in with mocking laughter.

"Oh come on guys, lay off," Marron dismissed them waving her hand, making sure to turn her face away so that they wouldn't be able to see the red in her cheeks.

""I'll be back!"" Slip teased her with an exaggerated motion.

"Ok…"

"Oh don't go!" C also added in with her own interpretation of what clearly didn't happen, pressing the back of her hand against her forehead and leaning back for theatrical effect as she did so.

"Really…" Marron didn't spare them a glance before taking off into the air, now feeling bashful for her obvious display of affection, and set her sights back in the direction of Kame House. The children followed her retreating form, and Marron suddenly felt her insides panicking as she remembered that Chi-Chi wanted them early for dinner. Oh boy…

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**_Dragon Ball Z, and it's characters, do not belong to me. This was made for leisure and nonprofit purposes only._**


	9. Androids at Your Doorstep

**Visit my profile for the official artwork of** _**Mirai Marron**_**!**  
Remember to review your opinion! Love y'all.

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**_Androids at Your Doorstep_**

Marron had woken up that day with a feeling in the pit of her stomach telling her there was something she had overlooked. She sat in the small kitchen of Kame House in solitude, with her hands cradling a cup of coffee, and the twilight sun slowly creeping in through the askew window shutters, pondering in silence the very reason of why she felt so troubled. The young woman felt as if there was something she had purposely pushed aside, something that was—mostly likely—coming back to stab her in the back when she least expected it. Was it perhaps the fact that she had completely disregarded her initial mission of finding Guerra? But she immediately pushed the thought away; it was much too soon to be worrying about him, even if she wanted to go out there and find him.

Her fingers brought the steaming beverage up to her rosy lips, giving her a few seconds to blow some steam away before taking a sip of her coffee. Marron then allowed her eyes to roam the quaint kitchen, noting how everything seemed so similar yet so different within its four walls. The lavender wallpaper covering every corner of the kitchen was the same, and most of the portraits she was used to seeing were already there, maybe except for the couple newly acquired ones from her time, like the one when they visited Cairo, or the one her mom took during her first day in daycare. Her blue orbs traveled up to the ceiling and she even spotted the crack propagating near the refrigerator; the very same crack she had seen throughout all her years growing up in Kame House.

Of course, the house was the same, but the times were different. They all had lives, left a footprint in the world they lived in, while she was somebody that suddenly appeared from out of nowhere, supposedly from the future. Marron snorted despite of herself, she felt like an outsider, she felt silly, she then decided to drop it. Almost without helping it her mind trailed to Trunks, not the _Mirai_ Trunks, mind you, but _her_ Trunks. Oh how she missed his caresses, how she missed the way he kissed her, how she missed seeing him every morning and sharing a quick breakfast together before parting ways, him to his job and her to her life. If she had been allowed to, she would have been his until the last of days.

Now she was left with a _friend_ that shared his appearance and her woes. The universe has redeemed her, she thought, and given her another opportunity? Only this time she was given a broken boy burdened by the death of many, both him and her about to embark in _Mission: Impossible_; to save this timeline and two others. Again, she snorted at the irony of her situation. Her spirit felt bitter and resentful, and she would have continued to pity herself and her disposition had it not been for the quiet footsteps that entered the kitchen, capturing her attention.

There, right by the kitchen door stood Piccolo, strong and noble as if early mornings did not bother him, dressed and ready for whatever the day might bring them. He silently approached the table, meeting her gaze but not uttering a single word. She welcomed him with a smile and said, "G'morning Piccolo."

"Are you trying to beat Chi-Chi in who wakes up earlier?" He asked with a chuckle, his dark eyes trailing out past the window and onto the sandy beach, where the sun was beginning to rise.

"I wish I could say yes, but this time I'll hand her the crown," she smiled, her eyes on him calculating and observant; this wasn't the same Piccolo she had seen when she first landed in the past, the air about him was that of the Piccolo from her time. "Chi-Chi left last night, by the way."

"Oh?" This captive his attention, so he turned to meet her eyes.

"Now that Goku is all healed there's no reason for them to hide here anymore, so she went home. Either way I'm pretty sure the androids probably already searched through their house, so I don't think they'll be going back there anyways; she'll be alright."

The way he was looking back at her told her he was detailing her as well, his mind racing as he tried to provide himself with some explanations for many unanswered questions. His eyes then flickered past her, and she failed to recognize that he had spotted someone in the living room; something he decided to keep to himself. Piccolo rose from his seat and Marron missed the slight smirked that crossed his, otherwise stoic, expression. The Namekian made to pour himself coffee before asking, "Why is the identity of your father such an enigma, child? Surely it can't be so shocking."

"It's not that it's shocking, it's just a sensitive topic to talk about," her fingers trailed across the edge of her cup, her brows furrowing in concentration, as she could already tell she wouldn't like the direction the conversation was going.

"You can confide in me. I'm simply curious of the extent of Android 18's loyalty to us in the future… if we should trust her now and all," He sat back down across from her, a cup of coffee in one hand and eyes on her.

At first she was speechless, for she didn't know exactly what he wanted… how to reply… until she finally said, "I'm not sure of the details of how it happened; I'm not sure of how mom turned over to your side."

"Well then who is your father?" His question was slightly more forceful than he would have intended, but he also felt he was well overdue for such an answer.

Marron finished the last bit of her coffee before looking away. Her gaze rested on a portrait of Master Roshi holding up a trophy, and the memory of her crashing into the wall and smashing the glass of the portrait when she was a child crossed her mind. Finally she settled her eyes back on her empty cup, avoiding his questioning eyes. "Krillin is my father," she answered before looking up at him. She felt a lot better now that she didn't have to keep that from yet another person, but at the same time feared that it was dangerous for too many people to know.

Piccolo chuckled derisively before saying, "That's cute." He then turned his gaze past her and motioned to her to look back past the opened door, which she did, and Marron felt her body freeze at the sight of Krillin sitting on the living room couch, his shoulders hunched and his fingers intertwined as if he was deep in thought.

For a moment her blood pumped through her face and she felt betrayed. Marron turned her face fiercely back towards him, setting her stare on his now stoic face. "You knew all along?" She whispered heatedly.

"I did not know that would be your answer; merely a coincidence."

Marron's stare on him was relentless, until she finally saw the honesty in his eyes, and she said, "Do you think he heard?"

"Does it matter? He was bound to find out one way or the other." Then he stood from his chair and called out to the shorter man, "Krillin, would you like some coffee?"

The bald man quickly turned his head towards them, as if startled by the invitation. His eyes settled briefly on Marron, and she didn't have to ask anymore, for his eyes spoke everything she needed to know; he _had_ heard. "Yeah, sure," he said before approaching them, also taking a seat on the kitchen table.

The early morning passed and only a few words were exchanged. It was obvious to Marron that at first Krillin felt apprehensive to address her, but he eventually warmed back up to his, usually welcoming, persona. She knew that it was understandable for him to feel even the least bit awkward around the person that was supposed to grow up to be his future daughter. Marron wondered if it was the fact that she was his daughter that bothered him, or perhaps the fact that none other than Android 18 would be the one bearing her. Either way the topic was unceremoniously dropped.

With Chi-Chi gone, there was no one to prepare the magnificent breakfasts that he whole house was used to, yet Marron was urged to quickly put something together for breakfast, before the two hungry Saiyans that still remained in Kame House barged in to the kitchen demanding food. Soon the atmosphere no longer felt tense and the kitchen was filled with the delicious sounds of a pan sizzling as it cooked eggs and sausages, and the china plates and silverware clunking as the table was made. And as if lured by the enticing scents, Yamcha, Tien, Slip, and C almost floated down to the kitchen, their noses their guide and their stomachs their commander.

"Morning!" C exclaimed with a sing-song voice, skipping happily towards the table and taking a seat, ready to devour whatever meal was put before her.

The older warriors found a place on the table, and they quickly exchanged food and plates, eager to begin with the usual morning ritual. Marron, however, hadn't mastered Chi-Chi's impeccable meal-serving timing, and so she had to remain by the stove as she cooked yet more batches of fresh toast and eggs.

"Where's Chi-Chi?" Slip finally pointed out their loss.

"She went back home. Pass the butter kiddo," Tien simply replied, momentarily taking his eyes off his food to receive the condiment.

"What? No way!" The young Saiyan almost sounded dismayed.

"What? My food isn't good enough?" Marron turned brusquely back to the stove, her hips swaying behind her, and she added in an undertone—that everyone was still able to hear—, "Ungrateful punk."

"Hmph." It seemed that Slip was still upset about something.

"Marron, why didn't you let us go to the time chamber with Trunks and Vegeta?" C stood from her chair, her mouth still stuffed with food, and brought her empty plate back towards the stove, demanding more.

"Brat, it's obvious that we have little time to waste, and Trunks and Vegeta were the more sensible option," Piccolo spared her the answer.

Marron, however, also added in, "That's not it though. Don't you two get it? While inside, you spend a whole year in the time span of a day. _A whole year_. Don't you think that would rob you of your childhood?"

"But what about Gohan?" Slip quickly added in.

He received one of her glares before she answered, "You going there is completely unnecessary given the situation, and that will be the last I'll hear about this from you two."

Her words spoke with such a finality that for a second nobody in the table dared to chew. The most surprising part of it all, though, was that neither Slip or C dared to challenge her any longer, it was as if they were already used to submitting to her; as if obeying her words was as natural as going to school every day or brushing their teeth every night before going to sleep.

"Well it's already been a whole day, I wonder why Trunks hasn't come back yet," Slip shrugged, not bothering to swallow before speaking—God forbid if Chi-Chi were here.

Their attentions then suddenly shifted to Piccolo, who startled them by brusquely raising from his chair, wood screeching from the friction against the tiled floor and his plate slightly jumping from the table. His eyes focused on the door and he quietly said, "I sense someone at the door."

"But there's no ki—" The young Saiyan was ignored as Piccolo left the room in haste to investigate.

They didn't have to wait long, for merely seconds later Piccolo had walked back, his eyes burning and his lips smirking in disbelief. "You all better come, we have visitors," he told them and led the way out.

Outside the waves thrashed and spat against the sand in a rhythmic manner, and the wind tickled the palm trees above them, much like any other morning in the island, nature moving on as if there were not three murderous androids standing right by the doorstep. The occupants of the house slowly walked outside, meeting the intruders face to face and standing side by side, almost as if creating a sort of barrier between the androids and the house, even if there was nothing inside left to protect.

The youngest, and their leader, let his eyes roam through each and every one of them, his lips smirking and his eyes calculating. The young woman beside him also allowed her gaze to roam, her eyes stopping slightly as they met with Krillin's alarmed ebonies, but her expression changed to utter surprise once they settled on the only other blond in the island. Blue met with blue, and the short-haired blond felt infuriated at once when she could not find information about the other woman in her database. Why was her gaze to familiar, her posture so captivating? She shifted her weight from one leg to another irritably, for she wanted answers.

"You better get lost. Goku isn't here!" Piccolo exclaimed from the center of the confrontation, both parties clearly in a stalemate.

"Seems like it. Would you be kind enough to point us in the right direction then?" Android 17 said with a casual air about him that was almost infuriating.

"Don't be ridiculous," Piccolo threw the notion aside, ludicrous as it was.

"Good. I was hoping to force you to talk if you refused." He then turned to his fellow androids and said, smirking, "I guess we'll be having some fun today."

"We'll have this fight in another island. Follow me if you dare." Piccolo's words were icy yet enticing at the same time, effectively drawing the androids away from Kame House, in hot pursuit of the Namekian.

"We want to see, too!" Slip exclaimed, and the twins also flew off in a flurry of lavender.

"What—" Marron was slightly taken aback.

Everyone around her began mobilizing and the blond no longer had any idea of what she was supposed to do. She followed Tien outside then followed Yamcha inside, wandering aimlessly waiting to be told what would be the most sensible course of action, until Yamcha hastily shoved a phone right into her bosom and exclaimed, "Bulma just called! She says that she's found the androids' weakness!"

But they had little time to celebrate, for as soon as Krillin rushed inside to also speak on the phone, they felt the presence of a strong ki rapidly approaching the islands surrounding Kame Island. There was a moment in which all they could hear was Bulma's exasperated voice from the other side of the receiver as they stood deathly quiet in the, now abandoned, living room. Marron felt goose bumps racing from her shoulders all the way down to her very fingertips, an uneasy feeling settling in her spine. _This was it_—she recognized this ki; it was none other than Cell, and Piccolo and the androids were waltzing right into his trap.

"Cell—"

"He's come to absorb them—"

"There's nothing we can do—"

"I'll make sure none of it happens—" And with a flurry of words and actions, Marron and Tien set off in the direction of the battle between Piccolo and Android 17, leaving Yamcha and Krillin to settle the matter of Bulma's phone call and the androids' weakness.

Piccolo's chosen arena for battle was a large island with little to no hills, sand covered most of the land, perhaps except for a few patches of trees within the very middle of the island. He wanted the battle to be quick and straight forward; there would be no hiding among mountains and cliff tops this time. Slip and C stood watching in the sidelines, serving as some sort of _cheerleaders_ for the alien warrior, edging him on with every landed punch and taunting the black-haired android at every opportunity. A little ways away stood Android 16, but the stocky man seemed too captivated by the wildlife in the island to pay much heed to the fighting happening around him. Android 18, on the other hand, was already bored, settled on top of a boulder by the beach, her eyes lazily traveling from Piccolo to her brother, back and forth.

Marron landed unceremoniously by the water, close to her future mother, her blue eyes tentatively searching for the woman's eyes, hoping to catch her attention. The older woman turned her bored stare onto her, until recognition flashed right through her eyes, and the android stood from her sitting spot, her curiosity edging her on. She slowly walked closer to Marron, and once she was close enough she whispered, "Who are you?"

Marron's heart was now racing, so many memories were threatening to spill out, fill her with misery, but she held her composure and met her mother's gaze defiantly. "What's the point of searching for Goku? There're surely more exciting things for you to do out there," Marron whispered back, and she almost felt afraid of the furious glare she received.

"I really hate it when people answer a question with more questions," the tone of her voice began to increase rapidly, and for a second Marron thought it was best if she stepped back in submission; her mother had been wise and understanding in her time, but she was most certainly neither now. "And what do you care what I do with my life?" They were temporarily distracted from their battle of wills when the earth shook below them; Piccolo and Android 17 were at each other's neck with a set of ki blasts that more often than not exploded on the sand rather than on the intended opponent.

"I'm just trying to look out for you, that's all—" such words made the older woman snap, and she quickly snatched the collar of Marron's shirt, bringing her even closer; their blue eyes burned with equal intensity. Marron slowly wrapped her hand around her mother's wrist, squeezing so hard that she was threatening to break it in two. "Cell will absorb you both if you keep this up; I don't want you to get absorbed," her words were icy and blunt, for she felt there was no other way to communicate her feelings to her volatile mother.

"Cell?" Her expression reacted with the recognition of his name, and she eased her mannerism to the younger woman.

"You know of him?" Marron let go of her wrist, queuing the android to also let go of the collar of her shirt.

Android 18 stepped back as her gaze unfocused and settled past Marron, drifting off in thought. "Yes… Dr. Gero mentioned a Cell many times," Android 18 whispered, her mind rushing through forgotten memories.

Their idle engagement was once again interrupted when the intensity of Cell's ki peaked, and within instants Marron could spot a flying figure rapidly making its way towards them. She abruptly took hold of Android 18's arm, bringing her behind her and using herself as some sort of barrier from Cell. "What the hell are you doing?" Android 18 exclaimed, her voice confused and startled.

"Saving your ass."

However the older woman didn't have time to retaliate, for Cell had already landed by the shore and, as usual, had begun his ridiculous speech about reaching his Ultimate Form. "The great day is finally here!" He announced to the whole island, "The day I get to absorb Androids 17 and 18!"

"This madman is Cell?" 18 whispered behind her.

"We will never let you get that far—" Tien began exclaiming from the other side of the shore

"Shut up!" Cell exploded in irritation and sent a set of furious ki blasts Tien's way; fortunately Slip and C were quick to act and move him out of the way.

"Move out of the way, you beast, can't you see we're fighting here?" Android 17 smugly told him, his nose held up high and his demeanor cool and composed.

Marron saw the fear in Piccolo's eyes as Cell walked closer, and he desperately yelled at the arrogant youth, "He's planning to absorb you, you fool!"

In the blink of an eye Cell had jumped forward and began attacking Android 17, yet the young man simply made minimal efforts to dodge his attacks, as if it was too much of a bother to acknowledge the intruder. Cell, upon realizing that the android was just playing with him, intensified his assault, effectively breaking through Android 17's defenses and kicking him right in the abdomen, sending him flying across the field, next to Piccolo.

"Not bad," said the android as he wiped droplets of blood from his face.

"Don't you see? He's wearing you out so he can absorb you! Move over, fool!" Piccolo was furious.

"Run, 17! He's too strong for you!" They were all surprised when Android 16 spoke for the first time.

The black-haired youth simply ignored his words, and almost as if he had been angered by the people around him, he lunged forward, ready to attack Cell.

"Somebody stop him!" Marron blurted in a desperate yell, and she almost jumped in to the battle, but behind her Android 18 had taken hold of her arm, holding her back.

"You and I aren't done here," Android 18 whispered silkily into her ear, but she was ignored.

Piccolo, however, was quick to react and shove Android 17 out of the way. He then took Cell head on, only to be easily dismissed by the green creature. Their fight was quick, and they all watched in disbelief as Cell tossed Piccolo onto the ground with ease, his body bloody and broken, and just like that Piccolo's ki was gone. Cell didn't hesitate before lunging towards his next victim, and before Android 17 had any time to recover and react, he was also handicapped by his opponent. His tail swiftly flew over the android, quickly expanding to allow him entry.

Not being able to idly watch any longer, Marron elbowed Android 18 in the ribs and freed herself from the older woman's grip, but Android 16 beat her in aiding Android 17. The bigger man tackled Android 17 out of the way, also engaging Cell in a life or death match. "Move, you useless troll!" Cell exclaimed, his eyes nearly glowing in anger for yet another delay.

"Slip! Castanea! Come now!" Marron screamed in desperation across the field, and the twins hastily obeyed her orders. "Take Android 18 far away from here!" She shoved her future mother closer to the twins, who took hold of her.

"What? You will do no such thing! Let me go this instant!" The blond android powered up in her confusion, but the twins' grip on her was adamant.

Cell must have sensed their plans, for he hastened in his subduing of Android 16, until the bigger man was unable to battle any longer. Everything seemed to be going alright… there was enough distraction to get the androids away… Cell couldn't just take all of them on. That was, of course, until Android 17, in his blind arrogance, attacked him once again. At this point, however, Marron didn't care anymore if he wanted to be reckless, for she was too focused on trying to wrestle Android 18 into submission, so that she could take her far away from the island.

Android 18 let out a terrified scream, and their eyes all turned in the direction of her gaze. Cell had his disgusting tail wrapped around Android 17, each second that passed seemed to be an eternity and they watched in horror as Android 17 fought, kicked, and screamed to be released. Soon everything was deathly still, Cell's sick laugher echoed throughout the empty island as his body changed to something bigger, something more brute, something with a magnificently terrifying ki.

"He's absorbed my brother," Android 18's voice broke, and for the first time today she relaxed her body and finally gave in to Marron's and the twins' guidance.

"Come on!" Marron whispered, leading the way as all four rushed to fly away, but the much faster Cell easily caught up to them, blocking their way.

He cocked his head to the side in a mocking manner and asked, "Going somewhere?"

But Marron would have none of that, and exclaimed before giving Cell a mighty punch across his face, "Move over!"

He was startled by her offensive hit and fell several yards back, allowing them yet another chance of escape. Cell would have continued to pursue them, had Android 16 and Tien not caught up to him. The wind burned her crying eyes as Marron, now holding onto Android 18's hand, sped up in their flurry to escape. Behind them they heard Tien performing his signature Tri-Beam attack, and within moments Android 16 was also flying right behind them, a vanguard and protector if their antagonist ever continued to purse them.

The quiet sobs coming from the android next to her were not lost within the buffeting wind, and once or twice Marron was tempted to offer her mother a comforting glance, but decided against it, allowing the older woman to maintain her dignity. A grim smile found its way onto Marron's lips; she had fulfilled her desire of saving Android 18, but at what cost? Was the android worth Piccolo's and Tien's sacrifice? Again, that same uneasy feeling from this morning settled in her very spine. Marron just hoped she hadn't just embarked on the wrong path.

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Miles and miles away, on an abode sitting on top of the sky, in an obscure bedroom of a deserted corridor, a sleeping youth suddenly woke with a start. He panted heavily, his brilliant blue orbs taking some time to adjust to the darkness in the room. His body ached, and his mind longed to continue sleeping, back to that untroubled land where everything was within reach and possible. His heart, however, screamed and clenched as he felt that something, far away from here, was going terribly wrong. _Marron_, he thought. For her it had been a day, but for him it had been a year, and his heart longed to see her again, to touch her again, to see her present and alive and breathing, and something told him that if he didn't act now, his chances of doing just that would be close to none.

The Half-Saiyan slowly rose from his bed; his body ached and gnawed at him, practically telling him to allow more time to rest, for his recent training session with his father had been anything but mild, yet his resolution was adamant. He would sneak to Kame House without his father knowing—he would go see her and make sure that everything was alright.

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**_Dragon Ball Z, and it's characters, do not belong to me. This was made for leisure and nonprofit purposes only._**


	10. Borrowed Time

**Visit my profile for the official artwork of** _**Mirai Marron**_**!**  
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**_Borrowed Time_**

Strong winds whipped up behind them, their figures a lone trail of white up against the azure sky. Marron, the twins, and the androids traveled in haste through half across the earth—at least to them it seemed that way—while their hearts pounded and their inner warriors lay awake in the eventuality that someone's ki would follow them. The younger fighters of the group at some point or another had taken hold of Android 16, his energy failing him while they flew over the vast ocean, momentarily slowing the group down as his injuries denied him the strength he so needed to fly at top speed. As for the two blond women leading the way… they flew together, hands still holding, almost as if they had forgotten that their fingers united them; the knowledge that one had saved the other weaving a bond that would later prove to be almost impossible to break.

They found refuge in a lonely island placed miles away from the location of their lost battle. Uninhabited as it was, it seemed perfect for the situation. A maze of intertwining trees and overwhelming greens covered the island's inner core, while rocky cliffs separated the jungle and the beaches, almost serving the role of an impenetrable fortress. Marron and Android 18 cautiously landed by a small clearing, allowing their eyes to quickly inspect the area before giving the twins—who were still hovering through the air with Android 16—the thumbs up. They gathered by the bushes, creating a sort of protective nest, and for the first time in many hours they felt safe, secure, amongst family and newly-found allies.

Marron sat across from Android 18 and motioned the twins to settle closer to her, both parties separating according to their loyalties. The older, blond woman leaned by a nice mat of dry leaves and settled her android companion on her lap, her once icy gaze wandering over his deformed face, her expression a mixture of pity, sadness, and anger; nearly unreadable.

There was a moment when the sounds of the wilderness and the silence between them reigned, until C was the first daring to speak. "We left Tien and Piccolo…" her blue eyes fluttered close prettily, making Android 16, who laid across from her in their leaf-covered nest, smile.

Marron's heart clenched, for she was unable to word a reasonable reply. Now that they were relatively safe, and there was a moment to ponder everything that happened, Marron decided it was her fault. Her own personal motives had betrayed Piccolo and Tien and left them abandoned at the mercy of Cell, or was everything they had gone through really worth it? Were Piccolo's injures and Tien's pain really worth their escape? Was she just hopelessly prolonging the inevitable… was Cell meant to absorb her mother after all?

"They were brave men, Cell would have surely absorbed 18… he would have become unstoppable…" Android 16's words brought Marron back to the clearing and away from her reverie. She wished to believe him yet felt overwhelmingly guilty.

Slip had now scooted closer to Marron, and the two children took refuge in her presence, comfortable to be able to have her to confide in. Marron watched Android 18 as the minutes dragged on and no one else dared to speak—the past events replaying over and over in their memories like a broken record—and Android 18 watched her back, her eyes focused yet hesitant. "Marron," her mother finally demanded her attention before asking, "Who are you? Why did you try to save us?"

"Would you believe me if I told you?" Marron wondered aloud.

Android 18 chuckled derisively, as if believing herself to be wiser and more seasoned than Marron, "In a world like this, nothing can be too _impossible_."

Marron quickly answered, rising up to the challenge, "I'm your daughter from the future." She felt a sort of triumphant satisfaction at the surprised expression upon Android 18's beautiful face; the woman was certainly not expecting this.

Android 18 then recovered and her face smiled—a simple, genuine little smile. "Thank you," she would have elaborated, but felt she didn't have to explain why she was thanking Marron. This time everyone watched the female android, for she seemed to be trying to put words together, until she eventually said, her eyes sad and her lips curved up, "I never imagined I would be human enough to have a baby—Dr. Gero didn't steal all my humanity after all." After a while, she added, "I'm curious, who's your father?"

Marron simply shook her head.

"I suppose that's best, wouldn't want to ruin the surprise." She laughed and pushed Android 16 off of her lap, then told him, "Alright there, 16?" She rearranged his upper body against the dry leaves, but his body crushed most of the greens, and so he looked like he had sunk in an enormous leaf-made armchair.

Time dragged on as they exchanged a few casual words, all five engaged in a heart-lightening conversation that made them forget the unfortunate circumstances that had brought them to this very canopy. Marron had found entertainment by playing with C's silky locks, which had a texture very similar to her own. Slip was listening intently to Android 16 as the man explained all sorts of equipment upgrades he, as an android, had; Android 18 every once in a while chirping in with details about her own mechanical craftsmanship.

Their idle moment suddenly ended however—panic could not simply describe the feeling that erupted from their very cores when they sensed a terribly infuriated ki rapidly shooting their way. As if following a chain of unfolding events, Marron shoved C away and jumped up; Android 18 following her lead; the man next to her struggling to sit up by himself; and Slip, without needing further encouragement, turned Super Saiyan. Their eyes met before they took a sort of battle formation and flew off towards the sky, intent on making an escapade. Their path, though, was cut short by the brutish form of Cell, who had suddenly appeared in their chosen island of refuge; his dark eyes reflecting rage and the sick satisfaction of having found them.

"You vermin… thought you could get away that easily?" Cell asked in a derisive tone as his hands juggled idly a mighty ki energy ball. "Your ki and energy shall be mine, and there's nothing any of you can do about it," and with a few last words Cell powered up, throwing the ki ball at their direction, deliberately missing and scattering them around the sky.

Beside Marron, Slip seemed ready to take on the challenge. "Take 18 and leave," he whispered cautiously to her before charging in towards Cell. His wild Saiyan hair swayed violently as he moved and his powerful ki aura spat all around him.

"Slip!" C was caught in a panicked frenzy, but she dared not fly away with the androids and Marron as her brother fought.

"I will stay with Slip, but you must fly with Android 18 and 16 and gain a lead!" Marron tugged on the young girl's forearm desperately, not willing to make any more sacrifices for the sake of her mother. Marron would have been more successful convincing C to flee, but the girl remained panic-struck and frozen as she watched Slip versus the new Cell.

If Slip had ever been an equal match to Cell, he was most certainly not one now. This new Cell possessed Android 17's prodigal speed and a ruthlessness that only bred from the anger he felt for having Android 18 escape so many times. Slip's kicks and punches were easily thwarted by the bigger creature, and every time Cell landed a hit it seemed as if a little piece of Slip's life, bit by bit, slipped away. By now Marron could no longer focus on trying to rally the androids to flee, for she had to spend every bit of her strength in holding C away from the battle.

The girl thrashed and spat and cried in Marron's arms as if every nerve in her body was connected to Slip's, and every hit Cell landed on the poor Saiyan boy also seemed to land on her unaffected body. Her ki jumped and spiked with every burst of her emotions and she fought Marron with all her might to be released, but Marron knew better, and so she held her tight; the young girl would absolutely be no match for Cell. Ahead of them Slip screamed in excruciating pain as Cell had his body pinned against a boulder and had his weight over the boy's shoulder. With a sickening crack the boy's arm snapped in two and Slip let out a howl of pain that drowned out Cell's satisfied laughter.

"Marron! Let me go! Slip!" C screeched in desperation, tears flowing through her eyes and nose and mouth, and Marron also cried as her heart broke all over again at the disposition they had found themselves in.

"NO! Please Castanea, listen to me! The longer you fight with me, the less time I'll have to go help your brother!" Marron exclaimed, but the girl seemed to have gone deaf to everything except to Slip's utters of agonizing pain. "I WILL PROTECT SLIP, NOW GO!" Marron was now furious; furious at Cell for showing up, furious at Slip for blindly charging in, furious at C for being so irrational, furious at herself for not being able to properly handle the situation.

At long last C listened to reason and she gave up her thrashing against Marron. She tentatively turned her blue eyes away from Slip, almost as if it pained her to do so. The young girl flew over to the androids, who were waiting for her by the edge of the island, while Marron charged in towards Cell.

The green creature was backing away from Slip, his dark eyes settled on the boy while he appreciated his work—the mutilation he had caused upon the young Saiyan's body. He sensed Marron charging at him, and deflected her punch with one hand and gave her a painful kick that sent her flying to the forest clearing. Cell's smile faded as he allowed his gaze to travel up to the androids, realizing that it was time to stop playing with his victims or else they might get away. He jumped back in front of Slip and kicked him mercilessly on the side, the boy spluttered blood as tears trailed down his boyish face in agony. "You know what? I'm not so mad after all, for as it turns out, I still end up winning here!" Cell exclaimed to Marron and C and the androids. "I can take my time becoming the Ultimate Form, for I shall have Saiyan and android power inside me alike!" And with those few, final words Cell directed his tail down at the boy that laid at his mercy.

Marron watched horror-struck as in the blink of an eye Cell had his tail wrapped around half of Slip's body. She made a mad run towards the green creature and the Saiyan boy, in a desperate attempt to save him from such a fate, but Cell shoved her back several yards with a powerful backhand. Above them, up in the sky, they heard a terrified scream coming from the only other Saiyan in the island as she, too, realized the danger Cell posed to her twin brother.

It seemed that Slip had no more energy left in him, for he remained limp and idle, unable to fight the monster's tail off from swallowing his body whole. After seeing C's and Marron's intentions of rescuing Slip, Cell hurried in wrapping his tail over the boy, his dark gaze hovering over the boy's frame hungrily. Within instants, not a remnant of the boy was visible; all that was left behind was the bulge that was his body inside Cell's tail. For a second all that had been witness remained horror-struck and paralyzed with panic, for they could not believe the terror that had just happened.

C then suddenly powered up, intent on taking Cell head on, but again, Marron was there to hold her back, well aware that it was probably too late. Cell's malicious laughter echoed throughout the forest as his body transformed, and C's rage had peaked to such an extent that she had tackled Marron away from her, creating a crater on the hard ground where Marron landed. The sky suddenly darkened and an ominous thunderstorm settled only over the small island. The waves spat and thrashed against anywhere that had land, and around them the wind buffeted leaves and trees and warriors alike, mercilessly, without discrimination.

Hot tears were on freefall from the young girl's face, and her, otherwise pretty, blue eyes began to glow with a rage alien to her personality. Marron watched C apprehensively from a distance as the girl screamed her brother's name, desperately hoping that he had not really been absorbed by Cell. Her short hair was beginning to attain a yellowish tint, and her ki seemed to have materialized around her, forming a wild glowing light that circled and spat all over her. C's hair was swaying and spiking around the frame of her face, resembling a sort of blond medusa, and Marron immediately _knew_—C was turning Super Saiyan.

Just as suddenly as the thunderstorm had come it had gone, and for a second the air all around them was still, a deathly silence settling over the forest. C's cold glare seemed to be overpowering Cell's resilient stare, and everything and everyone remained still and quiet, until C suddenly charged forward, surprising Cell with a landed punch against the jaw. At first Cell seemed to be too startled to overwhelm the angry Saiyan girl with his power, but he quickly recovered and wasn't bashful in demonstrating that he had the advantage over her. C fought with all her might to block and evade his hits, but her anger was quickly draining out of her, and her Saiyan side eventually became less prominent. Soon C's resolution had left her, and she allowed Cell to juggle her back and forth between kicks and punches, before sending her crashing to the other side of the battlefield.

The monster kicked her across the ribs, sending her crashing against a cliff, and before Cell could charge in and continue his onslaught on the girl, Marron rushed in a flurry to her rescue. She cradled the girl in her arms and flew as fast as she could up in the air, a temporary feeling of gratefulness swept over her when Cell chose not to pursue them. C's transformation faded away while in Marron's arms, and her tear-struck, pained eyes lingered on her eyes for a moment before she breathed out, "Mommy…"

Marron, too, couldn't stop the tears that traveled out of her eyes, and she made to hand C's defeated frame over to the androids. Cell, assuming that they were planning on fleeing, flew in hot pursuit of Marron and the Saiyan in her arms, but Marron was quick in handing Android 18 the girl—as if she was a defenseless, bundled baby—and made a quick turn back into the battlefield, hoping Cell would follow her. Her blue eyes met with her mother's for a split second, communicating a silent, unspoken message. It seemed as if the monster had no interest on the Saiyan girl anymore, for he followed Marron, and the androids took the opportunity to fly far, away from the island, as far as their man-made bodies could take them.

Marron landed by the same crater C had thrown her to, Cell landing a few ways away from her. "Well? You're going to avenge the boy's life, then?" His mocking question lingered a little longer than she would have preferred.

She didn't bother wasting her breath, for she loathed him with all her might. She spat blood to the side in a defiant manner, her glare never leaving Cell's victorious expression. He extended his arm and motioned her to come closer, which she did, not holding a single droplet of power back. They fought with equal intensity, their punching and dodging almost rhythmic and friendly if seen from any outsider's point of view, though every punch sent was meant to break, to destroy. Marron was speedy and nimble, and initially not once was Cell able to land a single hit—he had perhaps acquired Slip's clumsiness, or maybe he just wasn't used to his newly found power—but eventually the young woman began to tire, and he indulged on every punch and kick that made contact with her body.

Cell forcefully shoved her against a large boulder, and Marron was able to shield her head from the impact, but nevertheless couldn't stop herself from exclaiming as her injured body stung with pain. Using inhuman speed, Cell jumped forward and punched her right in the stomach, making her double over and splutter blood upon impact. "Not so strong now, are we?" He mocked her; his dirty breath tickled her neck as he brought her face level with him. Again, his forceful fist came in contact with her stomach, and it was then that Marron began to understand C's eventual lack of fighting motivation, for at this very moment it felt as if she had no chance of escape.

"You disgust me," Marron spat blood on his face, and his eyes darkened in rage at her nerve.

In the blink of an eye Cell had traveled behind her and now held her arm and her hair. She was pinned and held tight and her heart raced as she imagined her unfortunate fate. Despite of it all she managed to smirk derisively to herself; she had gone back to the past to escape Guerra and instead was about to die at the hands of Cell. She became involved with a fight that was not her own, interfered in a past that would surely change because of her actions, and now she was going to pay dearly for it.

Yearning for more reactions from his prisoner, Cell kneed the back of her ribs and listened to it cracking and snapping in two as if it were music to his ears. Still pinned in front of him, Marron screamed and cried and thrashed to be released, until all the strength had drained out of her.

"What's wonderful about organic beings, is that you can hurt them and break them all you want, and their energy will still be intact," Cell whispered by the base of her neck, inhaling on the blood and perspiration in her hair. "I can hurt and torture you all I want, and the effect of me absorbing you will be intact," He laughed cruelly, releasing her hair and clawing on her neck, leaving a hot trail of red scratches at his wake.

Marron elbowed him in desperation and jumped away from his grip, but only got so far, for he had quickly recovered and had kicked her to the ground. Cell stood over her, tall and powerful and merciless, and pressed his heel against her back, breaking yet another rib. He stepped away and watched with delight as Marron tried to fly away, only to be pursued and subdued by him, in a sadistic game of cat and mouse. Finally he had caught her in midair, and again he held her pinned with her arms behind her back, only this time his long tail had circled around her, contracting all around her, blocking her windpipes, her lungs…

Her eyes were clouded with tears and exhaustion and her head slung limply forward; she no longer held any hope of getting away, for she was too exhausted to care, she just hoped that it would end now, _soon_. Yet he wanted to hear her exclaimed reactions to his torture, and he grew impatient whenever he tried to kick her or knee her or pull on her hair or claw at her neck and she still remained silent and limp. "Given up already?" He asked, his breath leaving a trail of goose bumps along her skin in disgust.

"I hate you." Her words were whispered and faint, but she knew he had heard her.

His laugh was cold, and it sent chills running through her very spine. "Alright then, your wish shall be granted!" Cell withdrew his tail from around her body and, without any hesitation or warning, impaled with its pointy tip her aching stomach. Marron's screech resonated throughout the island, but no one was there, no one was around to witness the horrors of her eventual death. She closed her eyes, mentally readying herself for whatever might happen to her, but it seemed that Cell had other plans. He was having too much fun, she was sure, and he had withdrawn his tail from her injury, only to impale her again right beside it. Blood spluttered through her mouth and her mind fought with all its might to grip on the edges of consciousness as he once again withdrew the tail and impaled her a third time.

Suddenly something hard and forceful hit her and Cell from behind, and the green creature was forced to release his grip on her from the impact, sending Marron ricocheting straight onto the hard ground. For a second everything went dark, blood was flowing freely out of her wounds and her mouth, and Marron, delirious with pain, was oblivious of the airborne fight happening above her. Her mouth and nose were filled with sand and blood and she wished everything to be over; to slip away and let the merciful grasps of oblivion take over her.

Time warped in and out of itself and Marron was unaware of everything, except for the simple, lingering fact that the darkness was slowly beginning to engulf her, and she welcomed it. Her feeble, beating heart felt elated that everything was fading away, until she felt someone wrapping their arms around her injured frame, cradling her. She was brought up, off the hard ground, and amongst the dirt and the blood she could sense a scent, a scent that reminded her of familiarity and protection and _home_. In her delirium, Marron wondered if this was an angel, swooping down to carry her away; to carry her back to her family and to her beloved. She welcomed his guidance and, convinced that this would be the end, allowed herself to embrace the welcoming oblivion that so eagerly lured her in and away from consciousness.

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**_Dragon Ball Z, and it's characters, do not belong to me. This was made for leisure and nonprofit purposes only._**


	11. Her Ward, Visited

**Visit my profile for the official artwork of** _**Mirai Marron**_**!**  
Remember to review your opinion! Love y'all.

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_**Her Ward, Visited**_

Everything was so dark and confusing and painful. Every nerve in her body screamed and gnawed at her until her very core went numb. If this was death, then it was a hell lot more painful than she had imagined. Her consciousness had once slipped away, but the loud voices around her pull ed her right back in, a harsh rope tying her senses and bringing her back to life. Oh how she hated those voices. How she hated them for waking her from her slumber that a moment ago seemed to go on endlessly and eternally. Her skin seared and every breath she took were daggers to her chest. Her head, however, pounded mercilessly, relentlessly, as if utterly angered for being brought back to the land of the living.

"—I just want to see her—" Someone's voice echoed from a land far, far away, pulling her yet even closer to the realms of reality.

"—someone get her out of here before I blast her through the goddamned roof!" Yet another voice bellowed, and Marron spited this voice the most, for it was the loudest and the most painful to her ears.

"Where's Slip?" Someone else asked.

"—just for a moment… Please…" angry footsteps marched in to the place she was being kept at, and had she had any control over her own body, Marron would have flinched at the sensation of someone taking her hand in theirs.

"I'm sorry…" the voice said again. Somehow Marron felt the emotion in that person's voice run deep through her very core, and suddenly all she wanted to do was reassure them that there was nothing to be sorry for. Seconds later, smaller footsteps tentatively made their way to the other side of her bed, until she felt someone leaning by her legs, the sound of quiet sobs engulfing the room.

Slowly, now that the voices had finally ceased, Marron felt lulled by the silence. She basked on the amazing comfort feeling sleepy brought, as if she was normal and strong and not half alive, half dead. Sleep sneaked by, and without Marron realizing it, she had once again banished, whisked away from the realm of the living, back amongst the dead.

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The tiled floor under her bare feet was so incredibly icy it made her not want to take a single step forward, but her resolution was relentless, and so she pressed on. White nothingness spread all around her, everything was hard and cold and bright, even the robe she wore was so light and transparent she felt she might as well be naked. Nevertheless she kept walking, deep down in her heart something told her she had to keep moving through the white nothingness; right now, reaching her destination was of utter importance. So long she walked that she felt lost and lonely, until she finally reached the end of her track, and in front of her all she could see was a crystal clear glass that went on forever in all directions.

"Hello?" Her voice cracked and her throat felt dry and raspy, as if she hadn't used it in ages.

An incredible mist covered everything on the other side of the glass, and she was sure there was more than just white nothingness past it. She wanted to break through, feel the cool mist upon her bare skin; anything was better than being lonely and clean and cold on this side of the glass. Then suddenly, on the other side of the glass, someone stepped out of the mist and the breath was caught in her throat.

Brilliant, lavender locks adorned the frame of a handsome, familiar face; a face that smiled at her with a pair of blue eyes that she was forever more grateful to see, alive and joyous. Trunks, she knew. _My Trunks_, she thought. He placed an opened palm upon the glass, which seemed to be less than millimeters in depth, and she mimicked him, also placing a hand on the glass. The glass remained cold and unbendable, not the smallest bit of heat transferring between their pulsing hands.

She tried talking to him, and he tried to talk back, but everything remained quiet—a soundproof nothingness enveloping both. They knelt by the glass, their palms still pretending to be touching each other, until Marron couldn't stop the sobs and the tears that overtook her countenance. "I miss you…" Marron breathed between sobs, and the young man in front of her smiled sadly, deep down wanting to reach over, to touch her…

He then pointed with his other hand to something behind her, which eventually she followed with her eyes, and she turned to see someone else wandering lost and aimlessly through the white nothingness. She eyed the third party incredulously and eventually made to stand up. Marron knew this person, it was Mirai Trunks, and his eyes seemed lost and scared as he looked all over the endless room.

She approached him and the hand she placed on his shoulder startled him, but his frightful eyes warmed up to her gaze. Now it was his turn to surprise her, bringing himself level with her with an enormous embrace, as if he was immensely grateful for having found her, and she felt the heat radiating from his body addictive, engulfing her fully. She smiled in bliss and whispered his name into his ears until he pulled back and his young, boyish eyes stared back at her. He also whispered her name and buried his face in her neck, and all she wanted to do was hold him forever and shower him with love and reassurance.

Then something snapped within her and she realized that just seconds ago she had been weeping for the man she had lost, and now she was in the arms of another. Marron quickly let go of his embrace and turned to look back to the clear glass. The other Trunks smiled at the two of them and she felt ashamed, wondering what he could possibly be thinking—was he accepting her betrayal, or was perhaps his smile reassurance? Then suddenly something amazing happened; Trunks stood to his feet and simply stepped through the glass that only moments ago seemed impenetrable. His body became dense like smoke and see-through like a ghost's.

Marron reached forward as he approached, but he avoided her touch and she watched awe-struck as he simply walked into Mirai Trunks, merging and becoming one with him. The Trunks that now stood in front of her held a mixture of the two men in his eyes, a harmonious mixture that with a single glance led Marron to enlightenment. And she finally understood. She finally loved him—loved them both equally. The newly merged Trunks took hold of her neck with one hand and hold of her hip with another. His touch was so deliciously arousing that she closed her eyes in bliss and leaned forward, feeling the burn of his lips against hers.

An overwhelming joy bred from within her as their lips danced and she felt unable to halt the tears and she wept. Trunks pulled back, laughing at her as Marron let her sobs unfold, until everything, including Trunks, became blurry and the weeping became louder, and she realized that the sobs were now alien, and she wasn't the one crying any longer. The white room turned from grayish to black and darkness folded over them. Marron couldn't feel Trunks' touch anymore and all she could hear were those alien sobs growing louder and louder all around her.

A pair of blue eyes fluttered open, pupils dilating as they adjusted to the warm light engulfing the room. Somebody was still weeping, Marron knew, and with great effort she moved her head until she could see a tuft of lavender locks by the side of her bed, holding her right hand and showering her hand with the moisture of tears and snot. For a moment her head spun as she fought to remember what had happened and where she was.

All around her, on top of every table and chair in the room were bouquets and pots of flowers of every shape and color. On the foot of her bed, even, a round stuffed panda bear sat, adorned with hearts and flowers, almost as if watching over her. To her left stood a machine that was somehow connected to her body, monitoring her vitals, and the Capsule Corp. logo was painted upon a small corner of the machine. _So she was in Capsule Corp._, she thought. Finally she set her eyes on the weeping bundle of lavender to her right, feeling her heart break at the sight of C laying crying and defeated by her side.

Marron moved her hand away and the girl almost jumped at the realization that the young woman laying on the bed was showing a sign of movement. She sat back and her pretty eyes swelled with tears after seeing Marron alive and awake. "Mommy!" C stood next to her, her eyes scanning every inch of Marron's face, almost unable to believe herself. "You're finally awake, oh I'm _so_ happy you're OK," she squeezed Marron's hand, unaware of the pain she was causing the blond woman, and her face lit up in sheer relief.

"C… what's happened?" Marron's voice was so slight and raspy, she might as well be mute.

C, however, was listening intently, as if every moment she spent with a conscious Marron was precious and irreplaceable. "Trunks brought you back after the fight with Cell—you were in a coma. Android 18 brought me back two days ago… I was afraid… well I just didn't want to lose you, too."

She didn't want to lose her, _too_.Marron knew what that meant; she didn't want to lose her after losing Slip. C was reading her mind, it seemed, and her eyes watered and her face immediately changed. She leaned on top of Marron's chest, causing some slight pain, and the girl cried louder than ever. Marron just didn't have the strength to embrace her back, and she barely made out a few words the girl was uttering. Marron's eyes watered as well, and she listened intently to C's broken words; she spoke of how she didn't know what life was like without her brother; that it had always been them two together. That he was her first and only best friend. That they had been brought to this world at the same time through the same womb, and she had let him die, she had let Cell take him.

Her woes then shifted and she explained how everyone was so very worried about Marron's condition, that even Bulma herself wasn't sure when she would be able to wake. "Thank Kami you're a fighter," C eventually faced Marron, her bloodshot eyes and stained face smiling in relief. Marron smiled back, and for the first time she realized she was facing a younger, lavender-haired version of herself. Her hand trailed up, taking a gentle hold of her hair, and now that she felt again at peace, felt herself slipping away into the depths of a most-needed slumber.

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Marron slept until the rays of sunlight filtering through the creamy curtains in the room turned from canary yellow to a warm shade of butterscotch to the richest reds. For a long time her consciousness lingered between being asleep and being awake, slightly aware of her surroundings but too tired to open her eyes. She felt a presence enter the room, settling to her side, though she was too content with her current state of consciousness to appear awake. Eventually though, Marron couldn't continue sleeping any longer, and her lazy eyes fluttered open once again. Her ward was devoid of C, she realized, and she allowed her eyes to travel over the gifts and flowers in the room, curiosity slowly seeping inside her.

The young woman turned to her side and was surprised to see none other than Trunks sitting on the chair next to her bed, seemingly asleep. He looked different, she decided; his face was more mature and his beautifully flowing hair had grown down to shoulder length. The gaze she had settled on him had alerted him, it seemed, for merely a couple minutes after her blue eyes had settled over his handsome face his eyes also opened, only to stare dazedly back at her. Now breaking free from his daze, Trunks opened and closed his eyes several times, unable to believe that Marron was also staring back at him, alive and awake. He sat up and whispered, "Marron…"

"I'm not dead," Marron whispered back, a remainder more to herself than to anyone else.

"No—no you're not," Trunks' voice cracked as he smiled slightly.

Marron, too, sat up slowly with some difficulty. Her eyes never left his and she finally asked, "What happened?"

Trunks was unable to keep eye contact after her question, and he turned away as his expression darkened. "That beast almost killed you."

Marron daringly took his hand in hers making him look at her in surprise, she then blushed and released hold of him. "I remember someone picking me up, right before I fainted, was that you?"

The half-Saiyan's face turned red as he nodded his confession.

"How? How were you able to find me? How did you know?"

"Your ki," Marron almost rolled her eyes at his response; it seemed that was always his answer. Trunks sensed this, for he then elaborated, "Well… I felt there was something wrong, and I went to Kame House, but Krillin told me that the androids showed up and that Cell had fought you and Piccolo and the androids—Piccolo and Tien were brought here as well, they are in another ward… Piccolo seems to be alright, and Tien isn't too badly injured anymore."

Marron felt a pang of disappointment at herself, all this time she had been thinking of how _she_ was alright, but not once did she spare Piccolo and Tien a thought.

"I brought Piccolo and Tien back to Kame House," Trunks continued, "and I followed Cell's ki, because I knew you would be with the androids. Just as I reached the place where you and Cell had been fighting I ran into C and the androids, but they avoided me and I had no time to talk to them, because I felt your ki slipping away." His beautiful eyes turned away; they were clouded with a hatred alien to his personality as he thought about Cell, and all Marron wanted to do then and there was hold him forever. He exhaled loudly to relieve some anger and turned back to Marron, to continue with his tale. "You were so broken when I was able to take you away…" His words were whispered gently, as if talking about it would reverse her condition to such a state.

Marron couldn't help but blurting out, "Did you kill Cell?"

He shook his head. "No. I had no time; you needed immediate medical attention. I took you to the West City Central Hospital, but then we moved you back here. You were in a coma, Marron."

His tone was so grave, yet she felt as if she had simply taken a really long nap. "Couldn't you just give me a Senzu bean?" Marron asked cautiously, apprehensive of what his answer would be.

"That's what I asked mother, and she said it would be dangerous; she said your body might recuperate but your mind would still continue to be in a comatose state—"

"To be an empty shell…" Marron interrupted him, shivers running through her very spine.

Trunks didn't dare nod, the stare he set on her empty and emotionless.

Marron leaned back on her pillow and her lips smiled. This boy, so broken and battle-hardened, had been her savior so many times. Oh how she loved him for it, but why was it that every time she was so very close to him he chose to withdraw? She turned her blue eyes to meet with his and set aside any bashfulness, not hesitating in intertwining his hand in hers and gaining his full attention. "Thank you, Trunks," her voice was sweet and enticing, yet knew she need not elaborate.

He didn't reply, simply settling on squeezing her hand.

"Your hair's grown," she casually stated. Her hand released hold of his and shifted up to touch his lavender locks, which were so smooth and well-kept to the touch. Then, in realization and alarmed by the length of his hair, Marron asked in a hurry, "I've been in a coma for that long!"

The boy laughed and replied quickly so to appease her emotions, "No, I was in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber for a year, remember? A year for me and a day for you… it's OK…" Trunks moved her hand away from his hair and back to the bed.

Her lips curved to a perfect "o" and she, too, smiled at her exaggeration. "Who brought all these flowers?" Marron asked after what seemed an eternity.

"Everyone—they've all come visit you all this time. Krillin specially, he comes every day and brings more flowers, we're about to open a flower shop with all the bouquets he's brought, sheesh," Trunks laughed. "Does he know you're his daughter?" He asked her and Marron promptly nodded. "That explains…"

Outside, past the cream colored curtains, the sun was slowly beginning to set. The light pooling in to the room eventually turned from a gradient of red to blue, until her ward became cool and dark. Trunks remained by her side all the while, and although she felt tempted to fall asleep once or twice, she basked on the comfort of their solitude and his presence. All the while Trunks explained who brought which flowers, and they even joked about the stuffed panda bear that sat by the foot of her bed. She found out that Piccolo and Tien weren't in as bad a state as she was when Trunks had brought her to the hospital, and that Piccolo was recuperated enough that he had even visited her once.

It wasn't until there was no longer any light coming in from the window and Trunks had to turn the light of her table lamp on that he finally had the courage to ask, "Marron… what happened to Slip?"

For a moment she thought she had misunderstood his question, for it seemed unbelievable that all this time he did not know, but the gravity of his expression made her tilt her head to the side and clarify, "Wait, you don't know?"

Trunks shook his head and answered, "Ever since the androids brought C back she's been avoiding the question—she's been avoiding everyone in fact. I really don't know…"

Marron turned away, and for a second found herself unable to word an answer, for she felt as if telling Trunks would be admitting that it really happened. "Cell absorbed Slip," she finally said in an undertone, hoping that Trunks would not ask her to repeat the statement.

"Cell absorbed—that son of a bitch."

She eyed him curiously and felt somewhat apprehensive of the hatred that clouded Trunks' eyes whenever Cell was brought up.

"I had a feeling… when I fought him… there was a slight trace of Slip in every one of _his_ movements; I just didn't want to admit it," Trunks confessed.

The room was so dark now that the golden light emitting from the table lamp set harsh shadows over the two of them, yet there was an unspoken comfort between them that made the darkness all the more enticing. As if they were two lovers on a tryst. "Is there anything we can do to reverse it?" Marron asked after a little while for she, too, felt incredibly attached to both twins, and the knowledge that they were her children from the future only intensified that feeling. She momentarily wondered if she should ever tell Trunks, yet decided against it, and inwardly smiled, for it was as if she owned the secret and key of their relationship.

Trunks shook his head. Almost without him realizing, his hand had traveled to caress her cheek, and her heart burst with relish at his touch. "The androids came by when I was still unconscious?" Marron almost regretted breaking their spell, but the question had been pressing in the back of her head for quite a while.

He withdrew his hand and snorted in cynicism. "Yes, when they dropped C off. _She_ wanted to see you," He replied curtly.

"My mom…"

"It's her fault you're like this," he spat.

"It's not her fault." Marron immediately rose up in her defense. "It's Cell the one who did this to me—"

"Because you wanted to keep her alive," Trunks quickly intercepted.

"Then it's _my own_ fault."

He glared at her.

"Were you the one that was yelling for her to go?" Her words were whispered, yet the tone of the demand was apparent within them.

"Father was about to blast her out of the house, if that's what you're referring to. I merely let her do what she wanted to do," He rose from his chair. "She's your mother, so I suppose she had the rights to see you. That, however, does not make her welcome in this house," he walked around her bed and towards the door until he finally said coolly, "rest Marron, it's late." And with those last few words he left her alone in the darkness, the small lamp light next to her bed her only consolation.

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**_Dragon Ball Z, and it's characters, do not belong to me. This was made for leisure and nonprofit purposes only._**


	12. When Nobody's Watching

Author's Note: I'm really sorry for the extremely long wait :(. Hopefully I will have time to make more chapters faster... Warning: long boring chapter ahead ;D**  
Visit my profile for the official artwork of** _**Mirai Marron**_**!**  
Remember to review your opinion! Love y'all.

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**_When Nobody's Watching_**

"I really just hope Cell doesn't show up again… that way we can stay like this…" Bulma Briefs chatted casually as she handed Marron a small Senzu bean. "I mean, I really like everyone staying here, living the way we are," the blue-haired scientist elaborated after Marron gave her a quizzical look.

The other young woman in the room offered her a polite smile before taking a greedy bite of the Senzu bean, for she had been looking forward to this moment for what seemed like ages. Marron chewed quickly and with delight, and basked on the sheer relief the small bean brought. In a matter of seconds her body rejuvenated; her healing broken bones immediately healed, her scrapes and bruises disappeared, she simply fell free and energized and reborn. Marron stood from her position on the bed and waltzed over to the window, cherishing the feeling of freedom being healthy brought, and allowed the warm sun rays filtering through the window to shower her body with light and energy, as if she hadn't felt the sun for over an eternity.

"How do you feel?" Bulma asked, almost synchronizing Marron's elated mood.

Marron nearly twirled around, her golden locks swaying with her movements, and she offered Bulma a grateful smile. This seemed to be a sufficient reply however, for she instead decided to return to their previous topic, saying, "It's not so simple Bulma, because if Cell doesn't show up again it just means that he's out there absorbing people…" Then, looking down and in an undertone, she added, "Just like he absorbed Slip." Marron's blue eyes swiftly turned to observe Bulma's subdued blue orbs, curious of her reaction to her words. Her comment had caught Bulma by surprise, it seemed.

Regretting what she had said, Bulma looked down and explained her feelings, "I didn't think of that… it's just that everyone's staying here—enjoying each other's company, like a _family_. Vegeta spends the nights, Piccolo joins us for dinner, Trunks keeps me company in the lab, heck even you and C… And let's face it, nobody would be doing any of this if it weren't for _the androids and Cell_." Her words were honest and bitter, and Marron immediately knew she didn't have the heart to be upset at Bulma.

"Ahem," A small voice coughed from the doorway to capture their attentions, breaking through the somber silence. They turned to see Bulma's smiling mother holding with some difficulty two laundry baskets. "Ladies, if you don't mind… could you please take these to your men, it's getting quite bothersome to be taking care of everyone's laundries," She let out a small giggle as she handed Marron and Bulma a laundry basket full of boxers, muscle shirts, and training suits.

"'Take these to our men?'" Marron quoted her with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes darling, to _your_ men. That one is Trunks' clothes and that other one is Vegeta's," she pointed at Marron and Bulma respectively before winking. "I just finished washing and drying them, but could you please take them to their rooms, I'm just so tired!" And with a theatrical sigh the blond woman quickly left the room.

"Why does everyone in this house think I'm a taken woman?" Marron asked half-mindedly, Trunks' laundry basket in her arms.

"At the rate you two are going, you might as well be…" She heard Bulma chuckle as she headed for the door and towards the hallway. _At the rate they were going?_ Marron really had no idea how people could be making these assumptions, since she and Trunks were simply friends.

"Marron, wait." The blond stopped dead in her tracks at Bulma's request. She turned under the doorway and gave Bulma a puzzled look.

Bulma leaned Vegeta's laundry basket against the Capsule Corp. bed and uttered another sigh before saying, "There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about."

Marron tilted her head to one side and just prayed that Bulma wasn't about to bring up anything regarding Trunks. "Yeah?" She finally said.

"Well… you see… Remember Cell's time machine? The one I took in as a prototype when you left to Ginger Town?" Bulma continued once she saw Marron's nodded reply. "I was able to analyze and reverse engineer its design—now I know how it works—and I put the whole machine back together, with tons of energy to be capable of traveling time again. It's almost brand new." The woman smiled down at the stack of clean clothes before her, secretly proud of her achievement. "I know that your time machine was wrecked, so I want you to take it, so that you can travel back to your time."

It was then that Marron's heart began to race. For a second she couldn't believe what Bulma was telling her, so she listened, waiting for Bulma to be finished with her explanation and not rush to conclusions.

"I think I understand how you feel. You don't belong here; we might all look just like the people you know and love, but you know that it isn't quite the same."

Marron's eyes began to burn. Was she kicking her out? What happened to staying in Capsule Corp. and "being like a family?" She was momentarily tempted to take a step back, to run away, for it was too unbearable to stand there and have Bulma, a woman she loved like a second mother, break her heart.

"I talked to Trunks and he explained to me what it was like, to be a stranger amongst the people closest to you. So now you have a choice to go back—"

"Go back to what?" Marron's voice broke. Marron didn't have anyone left, didn't Bulma understand? Besides, she had long ago convinced herself that this was where she was supposed to start over. Sure she would complete her initial mission, but going back to that broken world where she was left alone to rebuild all that was destroyed was out of the question.

"To your family and friends…" Bulma studied Marron's expression closely and suddenly realized what she had said wasn't quite what she had meant. "I mean, after you kill Guerra and save the future… Don't you want to see the people you love again?"

"There is nothing to go back to." Her words were dripping with spite and she glared at Bulma. "And even if I do kill Guerra and save _your_ world, my timeline won't be changed. Everyone that died will continue to be dead. And it's not like I'll ever have a chance against that Guerra." Marron spoke with finality and swiftly turned around, intent on leaving Bulma alone.

"Marron, _please wait_." Again, she was forced to stop. This time however, she decided to leave her back to Bulma.

She heard the woman approach and flinched at the hand she placed on her shoulder. "I'm not saying that you _have_ to go back. I just thought that you would want to… or you would feel that you should. But you can stay here as long as you want. I wanted you to have the time machine though—a functional time machine is better than a wrecked time machine after all," Bulma chuckled lightly, trying to ease the tension.

Marron turned slightly and gave Bulma an empty smile, hoping the older woman would be satisfied. "I really do enjoy having you all with me," Bulma smiled warmly. The blond nodded, murmured a "Thanks," and quickly walked out to the hallway, leaving Bulma standing alone.

She hurriedly strode out of sight with Trunks' laundry in hand, as fast as she could, so that Bulma would be oblivious to the tears that were now on freefall from her eyes. How silly of her to pretend that this could be her home. She had a torn life to go back to. Her "vacations" could only last for so long, and as soon as she dealt with the Guerra from this time, she was obligated to go back to what had been. How selfish of her to presume that she could get away from her timeline, when it was _that_ Bulma that had saved her from her eventual death; all she was doing was prolonging the inevitable.

The young woman reached Trunks' bedroom, but lingered outside by the closed door, her musings continuing to plague her. Wasn't what had happened with Cell clear proof? She was meant to die sooner or later, Cell now had his eyes on her, and if she went back to her future, she would surely perish under Guerra's clutches.

Marron then thought of her Trunks, and how brave he had been. "_Live for us_," he had told her. How was she supposed to interpret that? Wouldn't he be ashamed if he ever saw the mess she had become? Her dreams had been plagued by his memory lately, and at some point or another she had finally deciphered that she was meant to start over and be happy, but Bulma's words inadvertently challenged her resolution significantly.

After a little while her heart ceased to clench and her tears finally subsided. Marron then arrived to a different resolution; she just wouldn't let Trunks' sacrifice be in vain. She was supposed to _live for them. _She smeared the moisture off her face and took several deep breaths, remembering that she still had to deliver Trunks' clean laundry.

Without thinking twice or caring to knock, Marron allowed herself into his bedroom. She suddenly stopped dead in her tracks and the basket she held in her hands fell straight onto the solid, tiled floor. Marron stood like a deer under headlights with her eyes widened in sheer surprise at the sight before her. Trunks must have been caught in surprise when the door to his bedroom was abruptly opened, for the towel that was covering the lower half of his nude body had fallen to the ground, and he stood under the doorway from his bathroom to his bedroom, across from Marron, his hair dripping wet, butt naked, and momentarily paralyzed by their predicament.

Without being able to stop herself, Marron's eyes traveled from his blue orbs, down to his toned chest, and further down to forbidden territory. Her face suddenly turned twenty shades of scarlet and she immediately turned around, breaking their petrified spell and queuing Trunks to crouch down to pick up his fallen towel. Again, she was the first to muster the courage to speak, "Umm… sorry for not knocking, Trunks."

"Yeah…" She heard him say, and couldn't stop the grin that spread across her lips. The blond finally had the courage to turn back to face him, inwardly amused at the huge blush that covered his cheeks. "Well I came to bring you your laundry."

"What the hell, Marron." Trunks noticed her grin and gave her an agitated glare, making Marron burst into laughter. She had to admit, it was nothing she hadn't seen before, and he probably knew it, which was the reason why he was so embarrassed; he knew she wasn't as fazed as he was.

She picked up the fallen laundry basket and set it on top of his bed, his annoyed gaze never leaving her, and she finally said with a snigger, before leaving the room in a flurry, "Maybe next time you should lock your door!"

3333

Marron strolled the halls of Capsule Corp. with a grin on her face, her mind all the while replaying the past events over and over and over. How innocent Trunks seemed; it was amazing how the heart of a child could so easily hide behind such an intimidating, powerful, _hot_ guy.

Her idle reverie was interrupted when she absent-mindedly walked past an opened bedroom and she caught sight of a small figure with familiar lavender hair. Marron took a couple steps back and stood by the doorway of what seemed to be C's bedroom. Said girl was sitting at the very corner of the room, silently gazing out the opened window, with her back towards Marron. Her head was leaning against the windowsill while her fingers twirled and intertwined themselves within her short, lavender hair.

"C," Marron whispered as she entered the room, again walking in on someone else's moment of privacy, only that this time it was readily welcomed.

C greeted Marron with a sheepish smile, and it was then that Marron noticed just how red her nose and eyes were—perhaps she had been crying all this time? "Can I come in?"

"Of course…" C patted the stool she was sitting on and scooted to the right, allowing space for Marron to sit.

"Are you alright?" Marron thought it was silly to ask, for it was obvious that she wasn't.

For a while C pondered her question, her eyes now on the gardens her room overlooked, until she finally said, "I don't know… it's hard… I really miss Slip." Her pretty face was smiling as she spoke, and Marron began to realize just how strong this ten-year-old was.

Without even noticing, Marron's hands had travelled to C's colorful locks, and she began to braid small sections of it. The young girl seemed to enjoy her touch, for she then stretched towards her dresser, grabbing a brush and handing it to her future mother. "You know, I was afraid the moment me and Slip told you our names you would figure out who our parents were," C murmured after a little while.

Marron thought about it for a few seconds, then chuckled and said, "How? I don't see a connection."

C shifted in her seat to face her and replied, "Slip means trousers in French, and Castanea is a chestnut tree in Latin…"

"Wow C… that's really obscure…" Marron laughed and elaborated, "No way I would have made that connection, haha. I guess your parents weren't very creative when picking your names."

"I think they wanted to continue the tradition?" C contributed, admiring a strand of hair Marron had braided by her ear.

There was a small silence between them while they listened to the swaying of leaves from a nearby tree and each had time to enjoy their own private reverie. It was then that Marron was tempted to ask "C, how can you be so sure _I_ am your mother?" The lavender haired girl tilted her head to the side in curiosity and Marron elaborated, "I mean… with all these damn timelines, how do you know which one is the one where you belong?"

"Well I _did_ tell you, my world was terrorized by the androids, only that those androids weren't my relatives—"

"Right, because I was never born in that timeline. So you're from Trunks' timeline—"

"My grandma and great uncle are from this timeline though," C smiled as she pondered something, and finally said, "It's like I'm a timeline hybrid baby."

"That sounds absolutely weird." Marron chuckled.

"It does," the girl agreed and they both laughed. "My parents have traveled time… are time travelers… and Slip and I are timeline hybrid babies." At the mention of Slip her mood immediately changed, and for a second Marron thought she was about to burst into sobs.

The young woman took hold of C in an embrace and she reassuringly told her, "Don't worry Castanea, we will defeat Cell, and after we do, we will wish your brother back to life with the Dragon Balls." Marron had already made this part of her resolution, but it seemed that saying it out loud only solidified her promise. Her life might be messed up and broken, but she knew that this brave little girl deserved to have her twin brother back.

C exchanged glances with Marron, her blue eyes sparkling as she said, "I won't leave this place without him."

3333

C and Marron remained together for the rest of the afternoon, until their stomachs started growling and they realized that they were much overdue for a delicious Capsule Corp. dinner. Together they headed down the never ending hallways leading to the kitchen, the delicious smell of sizzling steak guiding them all the way. When they reached the kitchen Marron noticed that nearly all the seats in the spacious round table were taken, and so she had to settle on a seat right across from Trunks—who seemed to have taken to avoiding Marron's gaze at all costs—with Bulma's mom on one side and C on the other.

It was during moments like these that Marron sympathized with Bulma the most, for she also truly enjoyed dinners with Trunks, Piccolo, Vegeta, Tien, and even Bulma's parents, even if it could never be quite the same. The main difference between eating together in Capsule Corp. and Kame House however was that here they had servers who occasionally replenished the dishes, so there was never a race to beat the hungry Saiyans in grabbing all the food.

Today though, the whole table had been struck with an unbearable silence. Across from Marron, Trunks had busied himself with his vegetables and steak, often flashing her a couple awkward glances but not once uttering a single word. Vegeta was in a terrible mood, it seemed, and everybody in the table could sense this, so nobody dared to even look his way, lest they experience a taste of his vicious temper. Piccolo and Tien ate quietly as usual. And the aftermath of Marron's and Bulma's earlier conversation seemed to continue to linger between them, for Bulma also was acting exceptionally subdued.

"Oh by the way honey," Bulma's mom began to address the blue haired scientist in an attempt to break the deafening silence, "I remember Goku said that Chichi posted Gohan's baby pictures on Facebook, but I was looking for them and couldn't find them…"

Bulma was a little taken aback by the comment and momentarily choked on her water. "Oh yeah they're posted, I saw them," The blue haired woman was able to reply after she recovered, everyone's eyes were on the two women, carefully listening in to the small talk.

"But then why can't I see them?" Their eyes traveled from Bulma to her mom, the small conversation being everyone's only form of dinner entertainment.

"That's because she has you blocked." Vegeta's reply was quick, loud, and harsh; taking Bulma's mom for surprise. His annoyed glare made the poor woman retreat back to her food, and now that Vegeta had shot down the smallest chit-chat, everyone else, too, turned back to their own food.

Once or twice Marron caught Trunks staring at her direction, but the moment she returned eye contact he would look away. Inwardly, this amused her, and the thought of just how cute he was reacting to their predicament made her grin to herself multiple times. She just wished he wasn't acting so sheepish tonight, so that they could somehow have a conversation, and finally break the awkward silence that with every second became denser around the table.

"I hate babies." Vegeta suddenly exclaimed to no one in particular, the fork he was using to impale his steak was slowly beginning to bend in his suppressed irritation. Everyone's eyes turned up to him in amazement, half of them wondering the cause of his outburst.

"But you have a baby son," Tien pointed out in a matter-of-fact tone.

"He's saying it because they are an undesired consequence to life's greatest pleasures," Piccolo contributed with cynicism, making both Bulma splutter her drink and Trunks nearly choke on his food.

"He's only saying that because poor baby Trunks was sick today and puked all over his face." Bulma's mom replied, adding a little bit of sarcasm to her tone. She must have been angered by Vegeta's earlier comment, and was now seeking some type of retaliation.

"You insolent earthling!" Vegeta abruptly stood from his seat, the plates and silverware in front of him cluttering as a result. Bulma, too, rose to her feet, and as if in chain reaction Trunks, Bulma's mom, Piccolo, and Marron also followed after. C remained on her seat, sniggering as the fighters braced themselves for a possible argument. Said adults stood paralyzed in a stalemate, glares digging daggers into each other.

"Mom, dad… please?" Trunks was the first to break the tense silence, glancing to and fro his parents, too flabbergasted of what had happened.

"Take it back," Vegeta demanded of the poor woman.

"Take back the _truth_? Why are you ashamed? He's only a baby." This must have been where Bulma got her spicy genes, and now everyone was beginning to see a different side of the usually sweet matriarch.

"Well well would you look at the time…" Bulma's dad suddenly joined the confrontation, raising from his seat and taking a hold of his wife. "Come on baby, we'll miss tonight's drama!" And with a last glance at his daughter, he dragged his wife away from the kitchen; the older woman not once resisting.

Bulma tossed her napkin onto her plate in irritation (probably angered that her meal had been ruined), puffed and delivered an annoyed glare Vegeta's way and headed out towards the exit, motioning her mate to follow her.

"You don't tell me what to do, woman," Vegeta also nearly threw the napkin on the table, but a murderous glance from the fiery, blue hair woman was enough to compel him to follow her.

Tien and Piccolo exchanged glances, realized that the last people in the dinner table would be obligated to clean up, and promptly left the scene, not too keen on partaking on kitchen duties. C must have realized this as well, for she pretended to glance at her watch-less wrist, exclaimed a "Oh Hannah Montana's on!" and scurried away from the dinner table.

It took a second for the two fighters to register that they were now alone in the spacious kitchen. Marron looked up at Trunks, who still continued to avoid her gaze, and sat back down on the table, praying to the heavens that he wouldn't leave her alone. With a sigh, the lavender haired youth also joined her in the table, using his fork to idly play with the leftovers on the plate. "What was that about?" He eventually commented; surprising Marron for he had not directed a single word to her since their earlier blunder.

She looked up and the moment their blue irises met they became captive of each other's stares. "I think Vegeta's having a hard time adjusting to the family life," Marron chuckled.

"_Phew_, was that awkward or what?" Trunks shook his head back and forth, finally breaking free from her stare.

"'_Children are an undesirable consequence of life's greatest pleasures'" _Marron mimicked Piccolo with the deepest voice she could muster and Trunks burst into laughter. "I like how Piccolo so casually brings up sex in the dinner table…" The blond added in an undertone.

"No dude… the mental picture almost made me die of asphyxiation."

"I saw that; you having trouble swallowing there, Trunks?" Marron asked him with a smirk and he grimaced again, probably unable to stop himself from imagining his parents doing "things." She observed him for a while and her heart swelled at how innocent he looked.

He must have noticed her meaningful stare, for he then said, "I take it you're not new in the topic?"

A grin took hold of her lips and she tilted her head to the side, shrugged, and coyly replied, "I can't lie; me and Trunks were like rabbits."

"Ah…" Trunks exclaimed, blushing as he shrunk back on his chair, a tiny part within him jealous of his alternate persona.

Marron observed him with kind eyes, then asked, "You?"

"Never," was his sheepish reply, his eyes not once meeting hers.

Without being able to stop her thoughts, a sly, devious little voice in the back of her head added in '_I'll make sure to remedy that_.' Marron pursed her lips at the thought and leaned forward, saying, "That's alright…" and the silence dragged on a little longer than they would have preferred, only that this silence wasn't awkward and uninviting, but agreeable, as if they were comfortable with just being in each other's presence. "Help me with the dishes?" Marron later suggested, and the youth before her quickly agreed.

Together they gathered the dishes, often cracking a joke or two, their eyes meeting and capturing each other all the while. Marron noticed how his embarrassment from earlier had finally washed off, and he was back to being his usual self, which she was very grateful of. She couldn't be sure, but for some reason she felt incredibly attracted and attached to him—both physically and emotionally.

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**_Dragon Ball Z, and it's characters, do not belong to me. This was made for leisure and nonprofit purposes only._**


	13. The Notes of a Time Traveler

Author's Note: Long time no see! I apologize for the incredibly long wait, but I know I don't deserve forgiveness. Does anyone still read this? Anyways I had a short spurt of inspiration and cooked this up. Mirai Marron will be concluded at some point, so stay tuned!  
Anyways merry christmas and happy new year :).

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**_The Notes of a Time Traveler_**

The sky thundered outside, though this was not due to rain or storm, Marron knew. Two powerful ki's battled out in Capsule Corp. grounds, and had she not known better, she would have feared that this was a fight to the death. Trunks and Vegeta were sparring outside, yet both Saiyans were the least bit inconspicuous when demonstrating their power, and the sounds of their battle resonated all along the Capsule Corp. hallways, rattling the night.

Marron paced the empty Capsule Corp. halls in silence, her thoughts constantly interrupted by the battle outside, for she could almost imagine their movements, attacks and injuries simply by paying attention to their ki's. She stopped briefly when the ground below her shook, and Marron could not help but grimace after feeling Trunks' ki waver. He had undoubtedly received the final blow from his father.

Soon her feet took her to her destination, a room that stood closed at the end of the hallway. Her fingers graced the doorknob for a second as she pondered her options, but eventually the young woman settled with opening and unceremoniously entering the room. Trunks private bedroom was surprisingly tidy and organized, she noted; a scent of fresh linen enveloped her as she stepped closer, until finally she settled on the queen sized bed to wait for him.

The Trunks from her timeline, _her_ Trunks, had inhabited a room much bigger than this in the higher floors of Capsule Corp., and it was curious to Marron how Bulma had simply given her future son one of the many guest bedrooms down below. Minutes passed and soon her thoughts were interrupted when the form of the half-Saiyan suddenly stood at the doorway, his sparring match undoubtedly concluded. His brows furrowed and he tilted his head to the side in slight confusion the moment their eyes met.

Marron's blue eyes scanned his battered body and she only wished she had the permission to rush over to him and embrace and kiss him until all his woes were washed away. His training clothes were ragged and torn, and right at every slash was a bruise or open wound attained from sparring. She watched him enter the room and all she could do for now was offer him a loving smile as she greeted him, "Hi Trunks."

The boy sighed, closing the door behind him and tossing his sword onto his desk, and replied with a curt, "Hey." Perhaps he was annoyed that she was there to invade his private haven?

"Remember we had that appointment today…" Marron leaned forward in her sitting position on the bed, ready to get up and leave if he requested so.

He swiped the beads of sweat that rolled from his forehead down to his nose and neck. "Yeah…"

"We can do this later, if you want," Marron added in quickly, not wanting to appear as a burden to him.

A brief flash of panic traveled his blue eyes and he quickly told her, turning his full attention to her, "No, let me go freshen up… I'll be back in a second."

Her eyes lit up and the corner of her lips tugged at a smile, and with that the half-Saiyan withdrew into his bathroom to shower.

Earlier in the day Trunks had asked a small favor of her; to cut his hair that had grown to an unnecessary length in the time he was in the hyperbolic time chamber. He was ready to cut it off back to its regular length, Trunks had told her, and so she offered to come over to his room tonight to help him with his grooming. Tonight he had an _appointment_ with her, and so Marron was slightly annoyed when she found out that Vegeta had stolen him for an uninformed sparring session.

Marron heard the sound of the water running in the shower, her eyes on his closed bathroom door, and had a sudden thought of exploring his bedroom now that he was busy with other things. She walked over to his desk, observing his shinning sword that seemed almost brand new regardless of how much he used it in battle. His desk, much like everything else in his room, was quite organized. A single ink pen stood erect on a pencil holder, and not too far from it laid a small leather-bound notebook.

Her fingers graced the rough material in curiosity, and without thinking twice Marron picked up the journal and opened it to the first page. _The Notes of a Time Traveler_, was written as a title in bold calligraphy. Just below, as a subtitle, Trunks had written, _A Journal of My Expedition to the Past_.

The blood rushed to her face when Marron realized she had perhaps come across his personal diary. Should she proceed? Her past experiences with diaries screamed at her to put the journal down, to pretend that she had never come across it, but her thundering heart gnawed at her to continue reading. She turned the page and her lips frowned at the measly entry for his first day:

"_Age 764: Day One_

_Mother would want to hear of my exploits as a time traveler, though I'm afraid I would forget some details._

_A day-by-day journal seems like the only reasonable solution."_

Marron had been expecting a magnificent tale of his first day in the past, had even expected to come across a lengthy explanation of his feelings towards meeting as strangers all the people from his life. This, however, was rather disappointing. She turned to the next page, and again, in his bold, curly handwriting, he had written:

"_Age 764: Day Two_

_I need to find Goku and the others today._

_Landed yesterday, though I'm still somewhat disoriented."_

Ok, some maybe Trunks wasn't the writer type. She flipped through pages, her eagerness slowly evolving into disappointment as again and again all she saw were the same condensed sentences about what he had done on each day. Her interest eventually evaporated away, and she was only left to skip to the last couple of entries. Suddenly, as she was carelessly flipping through pages, her heart skipped several beats when she happened to recognize her name written on one of the entries. What she read made her frown.

"_Age 767_

_I think my interference with the past has caused irreparable damage. It seems I'm not the only time traveler in this timeline; a girl claiming to be Android 18's daughter also traveled to the past. Her name is Marron. Every time I look at her I have to exercise incredible amounts of self-control not to attack her, though. Her eyes remind me of that wretched murderer._

_The androids were awakened, but Dr. Gero was destroyed. We ended up taking Goku to Kame House to hide him from the androids_."

Her heart raced, and for the briefest moment Marron thought of putting the journal down and fleeing his room. He felt repulsed of her! She never imagined the extent of his hate towards her mother and her resemblance of her, but now it was crystal clear. Who was to say that he still didn't have those negative feelings for her? And here she was, blissfully enamored of him and thinking that perhaps he felt the same way.

Her fingers trembled as she flipped through a couple more entries, somehow convincing herself that if she continued reading on she wouldn't feel so terrible inside.

"_Age 767_

_Everything has gone completely wrong. Slip is missing and C won't mention a word of what happened. We have all been staying in Capsule Corp. ever since Cell absorbed the android._

_Marron is still unconscious… and I'm terrified of losing—_"

Marron had been so focused on his journal entries that she didn't notice when the water from the shower was turned off. Her mind had been so preoccupied and entertained by his point of view of their adventure that she never once took heed of the bathroom door opening, of his tentative steps when he approached her. And so she jumped in surprise when Trunks' warm hands overtook hers and made to close the notebook.

She turned to him, her face flushing read at his proximity, and she immediately felt ashamed of imposing on his privacy. She was only giving him more reasons on why he should feel repulsed of her.

"I know this is not exactly a diary, but it's still private," Trunks slipped the journal from her hands and Marron was only left to look away. She took a step back, overwhelmed that he was standing so very close to her, with only a pair of shorts covering him, his muscular chest bared and flushed from the hot water and still somewhat damp from the moisture that trickled and dripped off his hair.

"I'm—I'm sorry Trunks. Really. I'll just go—" Her eyes were on the floor when she began walking away.

"Wait, though, Marron." His gentle voice was quite effective at stopping her midway. "Aren't you going to cut my hair?"

Their eyes met again, though this time she just_ knew_ he wanted her to stay in his company. She followed him into his bathroom, and it was then that she noticed the wounds on his body were still fresh from his fight against Vegeta. His back was marred with many permanent scars of battle, yet he still attained some fresh wounds from tonight.

He sat on a stool in front of his bathroom mirror, Marron standing right behind him. Her hands dug into his hair, feeling the silky, damp texture before he handed her the scissors. Really, he could very easily do this by himself, yet she felt elated when he asked her to do the honors of cutting his lavender locks for him. "How short should I leave it?"

"Like Krillin's."

This brought a smile to her lips and almost immediately their tension lifted. She gave him a playful glare through the mirror reflection before pointing out, "No, seriously, you'd probably hate me if I cut your hair that short."

"Heh, just leave it at my usual length, please."

They remained silent as Marron delved into his lavender hair, her hands trembling at first, until she felt comfortable under his stare through the mirror and felt comfortable with the scissors in her hands. Cutting his hair was faster than she had presumed, and she was almost saddened when it was over. "Not bad?" She asked him with a smirk.

"Marron you could be a professional stylist!" Trunks exclaimed in a playful manner as he shook his damp hair like a dog, small bits of stray lavender hairs flying all over the floor.

"Oh cut it out. I'll go fetch the broom," said Marron half-mindedly, noting the considerable amount of lavender tufts that littered his bathroom floor.

"It's ok, I'll do it myself later," Trunks was quick to intercept her, before she could walk away from his room. He offered her that charming smile of his and all Marron could think was how much he puzzled her. Was he really appalled by her? Or did he have other types of feelings?

Again, her eyes settled on his wounded back and Marron couldn't help walking closer to him, her fingers gently touching his skin. The muscles in his back rippled at the feel of her touch and she whispered, "Trunks, your skin is all cut…"

"It's ok, happens often when I train with father."

"Do you have any bandages? Let's bandage you up so they don't get infected."

She never noticed the amused smile he gave her as she rummaged through his drawers for cottons and rubbing alcohol. "Aha!" She came across a first aid kit and promptly turned to him.

"They'll heal in no time, really, Marron…"

But she was adamant, and so she led him back into the bedroom, motioning him to lay on the bed. She sat right next to him and was momentarily reminded of her Trunks, and how he used to bitch and moan whenever he got the slightest bruises. They might genetically be the same exact person, but they had incredibly different personalities.

Trunks lay face down at first, his eyes on his bed frame. She applied rubbing alcohol to his open wounds, noticing his slight twitch upon contact. "Vegeta doesn't have to be so hard on you, you know," she applied ointment gently on top of his skin, often massaging the area around his cuts, his muscles moving under her touch in sheer delight.

"I don't mind." To him any interaction with his father was better than nothing at all. However he would never admit just how starved of his father's attention he was.

Marron placed bandages where appropriate and eventually motioned him to turn over. This time he faced her, and she felt her cheeks growing red under his stare. The effect he had on her was unnerving; it was almost as if she was destined to fall in love with Trunks Brief, regardless of the timeline.

She longed to trace sensual patterns across his scars, to lean over and listen to his breathing, and grimly noted that in turn, _she_ was the one that had to exercise incredible amounts of self-control not to attack him with _kisses_. His chest trembled slightly under her ministrations, and she gave him a friendly smile after she secured the final bandage over his last cut.

Her mind was now torturing her, and Marron couldn't stop herself from uttering, "In your notebook you wrote just how much you hated my mother, how that made you hate me so."

She had his attention. He sat up and met her eyes evenly. Marron felt weak under his stare and quickly turned away. "Yes, in my timeline your mother and uncle destroyed my life, Marron." He never tried to sugar-coat the truth, "And you look just like her. When I first saw you I was blinded by fear and hate."

_Towards me_, she thought of finishing for him. She suddenly had a powerful urge to get up and leave; she didn't know how much longer she could take this heartache. Her whole life has been torn apart, and here this broken boy could only add to her woes. _Do you still feel the same?_ She so wanted to ask, but was terrified of his answer. In a case like this, when her temporary happiness depended only on a few people, including him, she preferred the blissful ignorance. She'd rather he hate her in secret than to be aware of that crushing truth.

"But that doesn't mean I hate _you_," he raised her chin to look at him when her eyes continued to avoid his. His brows then furrowed in confusion at her silence. "Marron?"

Marron was speechless. A juggernaut of emotions suddenly enveloped her insides and her eyes watered. She wanted to cry to him, embrace him and drown in her sadness, yet could only sit there motionlessly, her fingers playing with a small fold in his bed sheets.

"Hey it's your fault for reading my journal anyways!" He tried to lighten the tension between them with a small smile, though his efforts went to waste.

Suddenly Marron was mad at him. She pulled away from his grasp and made to stand up and leave the bed, though he anticipated her movements and in a second had taken a gentle hold of her arm. Marron glared at the spot where their skins touched. Her darkened eyes trailed up and met his. She was frustrated that to him this didn't seem like a big deal, frustrated that her heart longed for him yet there was little she could do, and she just couldn't express any of it to him.

He straightened out and slightly reduced the distance between them before exhaling softly and telling her, "That was my first impression of you, but I was wrong." He would have elaborated, but the broken expression on her eyes only made his stomach tingle with emotions he had never before felt for anybody.

He reached for her golden locks and was suddenly reminded of the tragedy that surrounded them, and how he and she were simply survivors to unfortunate circumstances. Everyone around them fought dearly to maintain the lives they had built in this world, while he, Marron and the twins were simply visitors, doomed to never really fit in. Trunks then realized just how harsh his journal entry had been, for she was another victim of terrible people; her world had also been destroyed, just like his. It suddenly dawned to him that he was perhaps a pillar of support for her, a friend who truly understood what it felt like to be beaten and alone, and the knowledge that he had once been repulsed of her had perhaps crushed her spirit.

"I'm sorry for reading your journal, Trunks, that was childish of me," he could tell she didn't mean a single word that left her lips. And her lips only frowned as her hand reached to touch his hand, to make him release the hold he had of her hair.

Trunks panicked, knowing that this time he had absolutely no reasons to stop her from leaving his room. She had cut his hair, mended his wounds, and his heart pumped hard up to his adam's apple as he realized he had no other reason to keep her there in his company.

Her lips curled up to a sad smile, "Get some rest Trunks."

At that instant a different sort of courage overtook him. He quickly closed the distance between them, his lips hesitating at the slightest brush of hers. Without thinking it twice he clumsily pressed his lips down to hers, his heart pumping so hard it threatened to tear a hole right through his chest. Something overwhelming shot up from his stomach at the feel of her lips, something alien to him, something he had never experienced before. Was it love?

Their lips parted for a second, Marron letting out a slight, trembling exhale. Blue met blue, and her cloudy eyes only gave him the encouragement he needed to lean closer, to delve one hand into her silky locks while he held her waist with the other.

"Oh Trunks," this time she closed the distance between them, letting her entire body mold into his.

Their lips met once again, though this time she hungrily explored his mouth, setting all her restraints aside. A fire lit in the depths of his stomach; it was as if she had been dying to devour him entirely for ages, and her passion was only contagious. Her hands traveled all along his bared chest, his muscles twitching and contracting under her fingers. The half-Saiyan could only exhale breaths of bliss whenever she allowed her lips to part.

Trunks tightly grasped the fabric of her clothes, something within him suddenly awakening for the first time, longing to become one with her. His searing hand left her hair and traveled to the skin under her shirt when she leaned even closer, her chest tightly pressing against his.

All too suddenly, something snapped within her at their proximity and Marron pulled away. His half-lidded eyes simply watched her in slight confusion the moment she leaned back. Marron exhaled loudly, more so to clear her clouded mind than in response to his ministrations. Her fingers gently graced his jaw when she asked, "Trunks what are we doing?"

"Marron," he breathed before embracing her once again, burying his nose and his face on the valley between her shoulder and neck. He then realized that this was exactly how he forever more wanted to be, close and vulnerable and transparent in her embrace. "I like you _so _much," _I want you so much_, he also wanted to say, but instead waited for her reaction to his confession.

She leaned back, meeting his eyes, and gave him that pretty smile of hers and for an instant Trunks felt terrified that she had only gone along with his caresses because of his resemblance to her deceased fiancé. Every ounce of uncertainty, however, evaporated away the moment she placed a loving kiss upon his forehead. "I never want to let go," Marron breathed, giving him the courage to squeeze the skin under her shirt. "I was so terrified that my feelings were never going to be reciprocated," her voice shook and finally she pulled back, forcing his hands to release hold of her body.

Trunks felt like a child thirsting for motherly love. He leaned forward and placed a kiss upon her flushed lips, not yet ready to let her leave his side.

She kissed him back, though only briefly. "If we keep this up I don't know if I'll be able to stop myself," her honesty was almost tangible.

_Stay with me tonight_, he thought of telling her, but again was afraid of her reaction. They were adults, and so he quite clearly understood what she was implying. He then let her go.

They shared a small, blissful smile while Marron toyed with his damp locks. They were not alone, he now knew; both shared marred histories, traveled to the past in hopes of fixing the impossible, and had found each other across timelines. Perhaps this was exactly how it was meant to be.

Her lithe form suddenly withdrew from his bed, her hips swaying at her wake and she stood under the doorway for one last glance. His heart only clenched as he watched her walk away, yet felt reassured that, really, in spirit she was truly his.

_**To be continued...**_

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_**August 13, 2014:**_

Hello reader! I'm happy to see that you made it this far into my writing! I hope the story was entertaining to some extent and that you enjoyed it! Maybe you will enjoy this:

I am writing a novel, original fiction, and I am looking for a couple of people who will beta read it in its early stages. Now when I say "beta reader" I don't mean that I need help with spelling or grammar or plot elements or characters or writing or any of that stuff. I want to find beta readers who will be willing to start giving it a read (and keep on reading if it interests them) and tell me how they feel about it. Was it fun? Retarded? Boring? Would you recommend it? That sort of thing. I wouldn't want much, just some input here and there.

If you are interested, please let me know and provide a way for me to contact you back (email, PM, etc.) and I will happily give you more info on the story to see if it sounds like something you would like to do.

Thanks again for your time and attention, have a nice one :)!


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